Wings Of Fire
by Bahoogasmif
Summary: Commander Shepard awakes amongst the ruins of the citadel, and is finally on the verge of that happily ever after he so desperately sought.
1. Consequences

WINGS OF FIRE

Shepard gasped, a short painful intake that pierced his lungs with burning ash. At first he simply sat in numbed silence, feeling his muscles burn while the haze slowly receded from his eyes.

The first thing he noticed as his awareness finally returned, was his legs were refusing to move as he commanded. Ever so slowly, he looked down and saw his entire lower half covered in rubble and on top of that a stone pillar lay across it.

_Maybe I should've ran those laps with Vega on the ship, I might've been fast enough to avoid all this. _Shepard smirked slightly at the thought, but kept checking each individual part of his body to see what worked and what didn't. But aside from a few broken ribs, a couple of bullet holes and his legs, he realized, he'd come out of the situation quite well.

"Not everyday you save the galaxy and wal- well, live anyway." He chuckled slightly but instantly regretted it, his ribs screaming in protest. As the pain slowly faded he finally took a look at his surroundings with more detail than just, _"is something still trying to kill me_?" in mind. He first saw that directly above was a starry sky, with the occasional torn papers and ash flying on the wind. To his left and right were more pillars and rubble, too tall to see over and no more than ten feet away in either direction. Of course, in front of him, a ton or more of debris still just laying on him. Sighing, he quickly realized, was _**not**_ the way to help in this situation. Breathing lightly so as not to inhale too much ash into his already laboring lungs, he tried moving some of the rubble around his waist. He made a small bit of progress, but not enough to be able to get out with his legs still marginally attached. Once again regretting his sigh, he got back to work.

* * *

"All Alliance soldiers this is Admiral Hackett. You are to remain at least 100 yards away from any reaper corpses until such a time as is deemed safe. Escort any injured to the F.O.B. and then rally at the coordinates assigned to you by your commanding officers. Hackett out." Hackett wearily sat back in his command chair and felt the fatigue he'd been holding rush over him like an avalanche. Closing his eyes briefly as he sagged further into his highly uncomfortable chair.

"Admiral sir? We have reports that the geth are… sir? Are you ok?" the crewman asked hesitantly.

"Yes private I'm fine, just feeling my old age creeping up on me. What's this about the geth?"

"Of course sir, were getting reports that the geth are completely inert, all their ships have gone dark and all hail attempts are met with static."

"Not like the geth to be rude. Maybe the Crucible did more than we thought." Hackett muttered.

"Sir?" the private arked an eyebrow as he once more let worry into his voice.

"Nothing private, tell comms to keep hailing them and let our quarian friends know as well. Im sure they could tell us what's wrong."

"Of course sir. Right away." The private snapped off a crisp salute and ran toward the Communication center of the bridge. Hackett scanned what was left of his instruments in front of him with a mild disgust across his hard features. It was a very pitiful force he commanded. All the fleets of the galaxy banded together from various races to form a single deadly fleet. When he'd first seen it, he didn't believe even the reapers could've withstood their combined might. But after having seen more than 3 out of every 4 ships die in a single shot, his confidence had faltered. Through sheer willpower and determination they had held the reapers far enough away from the crucible for it to dock and fire before they could stop it. Hackett's mind wandered back to those last moments, realizing Shepard had made it to the citadel even though harbinger himself had been trying to stop him, had been nothing short of breath taking. But not only had he made the mad dash to the beam, he actually got the citadel arms open for the crucible. Hackett shook his head at the sheer audacity of the man the galaxy was calling their savior.

_Where are you Shepard? _He thought as he lifted himself up from his chair. _I won't believe you're dead till I see a body._


	2. Without A Paddle

Without A Paddle

Shepard leaned back heavily from his exertions, his arms aching and covered in scrapes and bruises from digging with his bare hands through what amounted to a tractors weight in debris sitting on him. He let his exhausted mind relax for a second; thinking had become increasingly difficult the last few hours. But he persevered. His mind kept slipping into daydreams, mostly about his crew suddenly showing up and lifting the pillar from his legs while smart mouthing him with some corny joke. But as time went on he realized he needed to get himself out of this particular mess. No one was going to check his little cove out of sheer chance.

He slowly leaned forward again through gritted teeth and a slight moan of pain. He'd applied what medigel was left to his person but internal injuries needed a more… deft touch. He was reminded of his mother telling him to hold still as he complained about her sewing up a particularly bad gash he'd acquired from a classmate. He smiled as he pushed aside another chunk of metal from his upper thighs.

Taking a moment to scan the rubble for the next choice specimen of removal, he thought about what other tools might be available to him. _Well my omnitool is toast, my headset was gone even before I fired the crucible, and I didn't even bring my 4 leaf clovers and horseshoes. So how in the name of Tali's hips am I supposed to get out of here? _As soon as he thought it he realized his mistake. He felt panic so fiercely he almost cried out, but wrestled his emotions back under control. If he let himself panic about her safety he would be useless to her or anyone else.

"She _is_ alive, and I _will _find her." He whispered fiercely as he started moving metal and stone with renewed vigor. Nothing would stand in his way.

* * *

"No, No you don't understand, the man I'm Looking for is Commander Shepard!" Tali practically yelled at the marine in front of her. The man took a nervous step back as he glanced first at Tali then Garrus.

"Look m'am I want to find him as much as you do bu-"

"Look soldier, I realize we have wounded here but the man were looking for saved _all_ of our lives and all we're asking for is a shuttle to go looking for him in. Is that _really _all that much to ask?" Garrus said in a calming tone.

"Unless you want me to unload all these civies than no, there is literally nothing I can do to help you. I can allocate some guards to help with a search party..?" the man trailed off as he saw Tali's hand slowly go for the shotgun on her back. Garrus quickly grabbed her arm and held it tightly behind her back, her eyes never leaving the marine in front of her.

"You may want to come up with a better solution soldier, I would hate to have my hand slip from this young ladies arm. Wouldn't you? Why don't you call Admiral Hackett and find us something a little faster hmm? Maybe something with scanning equipment too?"

"Uh… yea, why don't I do that? I- I'll be right back." The man practically sprinted through the camp looking for a working comm. Link.

"Good job Tali, you might become a star with acting like that." Garrus' smirk slid from his face when Tali looked at him. That stare could melt a glacier.

"Who said anything about acting." She said coldly and started off into the camp after the marine.

_Damn_ Garrus thought to himself, _now I've done it. You stirred up the hornets nest buddy pal. What was that earth saying? "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."_

"Tali, wait. Tali!" Garrus yelled as he pushed past a crowd of marines standing around eating their rations by a campfire.

"Hey, that's Garrus Vakarian!" one said excitedly.

"No way! How do you tell?" Garrus ignored them and pushed on. Finally finding Tali leaning against a charred wall towards the edge of camp.

"Tali? I-" Garrus swallowed his apology as she flung herself around and latched onto him in a ferocious hug, her arms not quite long enough to fully encircle his armors bulk.

"I know he's alive, he has to be! I… I refuse to believe he's gone! Not again! …But how could he have survived... NO! He is _alive_!" Tali continued to sob into her helmet as Garrus tried in vain to calm her down. After a while, Garrus was just holding her up as she cried.

"Come on," He said quietly. "You should sleep."

"He wouldn't just leave me. He promised…" she whispered.


	3. Preponderance Of Thought

Preponderance Of Thought

Shepard stared hard at the few remaining obstacles in his path to freedom. Trying in vain to see a weakness in the structure lying on top of him. Maybe there was a way to pull one piece and have all the others roll off in just the right way? Or perhaps he should just resign his legs to their fate and start looking for something sharp?

"Somehow I don't believe Tali would approve of that." He muttered under his breath, his eyes still searching. There had to be _something _he could use… right?

_Why? _His mind blurted out at him. _There has to be something to help because you're a hero? Or is it because you're trying to be the space version of Macgyver? You're a soldier not a construction worker. _He smirked to himself as he realized his own thoughts were fighting him. Looking down at what he had managed to accomplish so far, he really couldn't see where to go next. There was no more light rubble or metal plates to move; all that was left was that big pillar lying along most of his right thigh and his left shin area. His legs were definitely broken, of that he was sure. They weren't completely flat, but mostly indented and had been totally numb since he had woken up. Though thinking about it he realized his legs _Should _be flat under that kind of weight. So what was keeping them from being crushed completely? He quickly rescanned the area between the floor and the pillar and found the reason almost immediately. Lying at an odd angle was a metal plate, about 2 feet thick and 3 feet wide from it's center.

His mind racing now, he grabbed one of the other metal pieces he'd discarded earlier and put it next to the plate that was holding the pillar up. He started grabbing anything that looked solid enough to survive the pillars weight, and piled it up near the original plate.

_If I stack enough, maybe I can use them as a jack and slide my legs out for the split second I'll have before it all breaks down again._

After a few minutes of searching for the right sturdy pieces, and having made his pile appropriately high, he decided he'd give it a try.

_I'm probably going to lose some skin here, but better that than dying of thirst._ He thought to himself. Breathing as deeply as his ribs would allow, he slowly put his arms underneath his torso and started slowly, ever so slowly, pulling his legs back from the pillar. His ribs were protesting with an almost blinding pain, but he kept at it until his thighs were finally out from the bulk of the pillar. Gasping in pain, he sank back down to rest for a bit. As he sat recuperating, he eyed his makeshift jack to see if his moving caused any problems. It seemed no worse than before, but as his mind kept reminding him, he was no architect. For all he knew his little tower of refuse would give way any moment, so he got back to work pulling the rest of his legs out. After a few minutes of torturously slow movements and slight adjustments, he had managed to get one leg out to his ankle and the other not far behind when he heard a small grinding sound. Whipping his head around to his disgraceful architecture he saw the top piece had moved just slightly under the added pressure that his legs had previously been holding up. In a surge of adrenaline he decided to risk it and yanked backward as hard as he could. The Pillar groaned and collapsed almost instantly behind his heels.

Leaning his head back he breathed hard and closed his eyes in relief.

_And now? Now comes the hard part._ He smiled to himself as he started to drag his tired and battered body toward the nearest opening in his little cave.

* * *

Joker sat at his usual spot on the bridge, looking over the various reports on damage and engine readings and food supplies and all the other mundane things he hated having to do. His usual smile was gone, and had been for the last day or so since the crucible fired.

His mind went back to the moment as his eyes kept scanning the reports.

"_All fleets this is Admiral Hackett, retreat to the rally point, I say again, retreat to the rally point! The crucible is firing!"_ The comms unit crackled.

_Leave_? He'd thought. _I'm not going anywhere. Not without Shepard, and I'm fairly sure everyone on this ship will feel the same way._

"_Joker! Don't you dare follow that Order_!" His Omnitool had lit up as Tali's face popped into existence.

"_I will not leave him! Do you understand_?"

"_Don't worry Tali, I wasn't planning on it. And if Hackett doesn't like it, he can court martial me. Well, assuming we survive of course."_ He'd added quickly.

Almost as if to punctuate his words the Crucible fired, a large bubble of red slowly growing from the center of the Citadel.

"_All hands brace for impact! Engineering get ready! This could be a doosy!"_ He had shouted over the ship wide band. The announcement started a flurry of movement among the crew behind him, all running this way and that to secure safety harnesses and double check systems. He ignored all of it though, as he saw the red bubble slowly picking up speed.

"_EDI I want you to reroute all power but engineering and life support to shields! I'm course correcting_."

"_Jeff, you are going the wrong way_." EDI had stated, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

"_No EDI, I'm going straight at that thing, Way I see it, if I go at it instead of away, we'll spend less time under it's effects. Whatever they might be."_

"_That logic seems sound, are you feeling well Jeff?"_ EDI had asked with a smile.

"With you here? You bet I am."

Joker snapped out of his memories and shook his head to clear his thoughts. EDI had only been gone a day and already he felt so alone he thought his soul might wither away and die. No one else he'd ever met, aside from the commander maybe, had ever seen him as more than just a pilot with bad legs. But EDI had loved him, despite all his failings.

He stared blankly at the console in front of him, or rather, through it.

_How can I go on? How will I ever find someone as wonderful,, as understanding_?

He looked to his right at the now vacant Co-pilot chair. Closing his eyes in pain and resting his tired mind on the headrest.

"Normandy this is the Admiral Hackett, do you copy?"

Joker pulled himself out of his misery and hit the comm. Unit.

"Normandy reporting Admiral." He said crisply.

"Normandy we need your Shuttle to perform search and rescue operations. Our top Priority will be commander Shepard but any survivors are precious resources we can ill afford to lose. Your shuttle will be joining the squad that will search London and more importantly the area around the base of the beam. If we are going to find Shepard, that's where he'll be."

"Of course Admiral, Anything else?"

"Yes actually. The Quarian Admiralty is requesting the presence of Tali Zorah Vas Normandy aboard the flotilla. Please inform her of this. Hackett out."

_Yea right._ Joker thought with a snort. As _if Tali could think of anything besides finding Shepard right now._ The last time he'd seen her she was in hysterics about him being aboard the citadel as it had blown apart. But surprisingly it hadn't just tumbled down to earth. It had remained in a fairly clustered group still in space; apparently it had some kind of mass effect field that had kept it in orbit. Kind of like that Reaper we found Orbiting that gas giant… _where we found legion_.

"EDI can you…" he shut his eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and started the calculations on his own. It was going to be a long night.


	4. Amongst Ruins And Grandeur

Amongst Ruins And Grandeur

Shepard sat against a wall not far from his cave looking at his open palms. His brows furrowed as he saw the blood and scrapes. Flexing his arms and making a fist was almost more than he could muster in his current sorry state. Relaxing his arm and opening his palm again he started thinking about how Tali used to play with his hands when she got nervous. His smile was ear to ear as he thought about her standing there in front of him, unable to look him in the eye because of her embarrassment as she fiddled with his fingers.

Slowly he looked up and surveyed his surroundings one more time, as if to make sure he wasn't insane. The view that met his eyes was… discomforting at best. To his left and right ran the wall he sat against. In front of him was what appeared to be the presidium. Or at least, what was left of it. The large open area where the council sat was a on the other side of the large room, but most of it was missing. Replacing it was a smoking and charred heap of metal and stone like what he had been buried under. How he'd wound up near here was anyone's guess, but it did seem like he really had come full circle. _How is it that I always end up here? _He thought._ Must be because I love the council so much. _He snorted in amusement as he prepared to look where he'd been dreading to look this whole time. He slowly craned his neck back and groaned again at what he saw. Above him was… nothing. There was no ceiling. Just empty starry sky. At first he had froze when he saw that. His mind throwing a hundred questions a second at him. But slowly his mind started working again and he sat thinking about how this could possibly be. _Am I dead? _He thought. _No I still feel pain and I'm having to move around with my arms. Plus, there's a nice blood trail following me around. _So how could this be? _There is a hole into space literally 100 yards or less away from me and I'm breathing air_. Something somewhere was still holding atmosphere around the Citadel.

_Doesn't matter. _He scolded himself. _I need to focus on something I can do, not theorize on something I have absolutely no clue about. _As his conscience berated him he looked around for something more specific, a gun maybe, or something that could act like a beacon to his allies. One thing was for certain, if he didn't get out of here soon, his wounds would kill him before his hunger could. Grimacing and cursing under his breath he got moving again. Maybe he could find a comm. Unit on one of the corpses that seemed to litter the entire citadel. It was worth a shot anyway. As he crawled and cursed his way to the nearest one, he thought he heard a noise. He stopped moving and cocked his head as he strained to listen for the offending sound. It seemed to be coming from the direction of the elevator at the entrance of the presidium. But that couldn't be, there was nothing left that way, just the remnants of the wall where the elevator once sat. And beyond that… actually he wasn't completely sure. He hadn't been paying enough attention when he'd looked that way before. As abruptly as they'd come the noises stopped, and Shepard dismissed them as rubble moving around or something and continued moving toward the nearest corpse.

_Please, just once let me find something useful on the first try… nope._

* * *

"Tali? You there?" Came Jokers voice over her omnitool. She was lying on a bed Garrus had found for her and staring at the ceiling with a blank look. She didn't even hear him.

"Tali… Helloooo? Look I'm know you can hear me, I'm just relaying a message from Admiral Hackett. He says there mustering shuttles for a search and rescue, and their priority is Shepard." Tali jumped out of bed in one motion and was heading for the tent flaps before she answered with a terse "Acknowledged Joker, where are they? I need to join them."

"I thought that might get your attention, the nearest rallying point in your side of London is at the base of Big Ben."

"Big…Ben?" Tali looked around thinking maybe he meant a statue of a famous human named Ben or something when Joker interrupted her.

"It's the really big clock tower Tali, ask any of the marines if you're near any about it. They can show you the way."

"Thank you Joker."

"Sure thing, and when you find the Commander tell him I said it's very rude to be late for your own savior of the galaxy party." Joker quipped as he shut down the link.

Tali just shook her head as she headed for the nearest group of marines. She had no idea what this clock tower Joker spoke of looked like. _I thought clocks were the things humans wore on their wrists to tell the time? How can it be an entire tower?_ She shook her head again and closed the distance to the group she had picked out.

The marines were all standing in a semi circle and chatting excitedly over something she couldn't quite see.

"Excuse me soldiers but I need to ask if you can direct me to..." she stopped as the group parted to reveal a ragged looking Garrus sitting down on a bench.

"Ah! Seems as though I'm needed gentlemen, I'm sorry but it looks like I'll have to finish this later." He got up hurriedly and walked toward her making small "let's go" motions with his hands.

"Ah… yes I'm afraid I'll need to borrow him from you, terribly sorry. But you know, he is free a lot now what with the Reapers gone, maybe if you just called the Normandy he could-"

"Well I think we've taken enough of your time I'll just be going now." Garrus grabbed Tali by the forearm and started dragging her in any other direction so long as it was away.

When they had put some distance between themselves and the marines Garrus turned.

"I would say thank you, but then you probably just doomed all my free time on the Normandy to sifting through messages. Man those guys could talk." Garrus shook his head in bemusement.

"So to what do I owe this welcome distraction?" He said as she waited for him to stop.

"Joker messaged me and said the alliance was forming a search and rescue mission for Shepard and other survivors."

"Where at?" Garrus asked. She noticed a strange look in his eyes as they started walking along one of the roads. He was moving at a brisk pace.

"Someplace called… Big Ben? Joker said it was a clock Tower." She stopped when she saw Garrus' smile slowly climb along his face.

"What? Why is that funny?"

"You mean _that _tower?" Garrus indicated with his chin and she followed his gaze to one of the large towers not a hundred feet from her. It had Shuttles flying to and from the base of it and marines were loading and unloading from each, probably switching shifts on the search and rescue.

"Oh." Was all she said, as Garrus chuckled and led her over to the nearest shuttle.


	5. Through The Valley Of Death

Through The Valley Of Death

Shepard gazed quietly at the sight before him, deep in thought. He watched the earth slowly rotate into view through one of the many holes in the citadel that was still miraculously floating in orbit. The corpses of Reapers still littered the space around the planet, along with thousands upon thousands of dead crewmen from various species and ships. He had to wonder just how bad the battle had gone while he was here chatting it up with Casper the friendly Reaper A.I, but as usual, no answers were to be found just sitting there. He Cautiously tested his left leg which, he had found, was actually healing on it's own. _Well at least Cerberus did something right for once. Too bad they aren't healing my ribs any._ He breathed lightly and hissed, nope. Definitely not healing.

He had checked a few bodies earlier, and one had actually had a communication earpiece. But it hadn't worked. He couldn't figure out _why _it didn't work, it appeared intact and yet, only silence answered his hails. _Could it have been the crucible? Did I short out every electronic device? No wonder no one has come looking for me. They probably can't even get their ships to move. _He grimaced at the implications of that. If they couldn't get their ships to move then starvation would become a serious problem very soon. _Snap out of it, you have no idea what that beam did. Stop speculating and get moving! _Shepard started to move toward where the elevator used to be on the presidium. _Might as well find out if I have completely lost my mind or not, I'd swear I heard something but… I have to be sure. _He slowly worked his way to that side of the room, careful not to bump any of his broken ribs. As he approached he started being as quiet as he could while still inching his way there, willing whatever it was to make the noise he'd heard again. As he got closer he struggled to make sense of what he was seeing. The shaft where the elevator sat was still there, roughly framed by the outer walls which looked as if they had… tunnels? He realized there were keeper tunnels lining the back wall where the elevator used to be, probably all the way to the base of the presidium spire.

His suspicions were confirmed as he heard the same noise as before emanating from the elevator shaft and tunnels.

"Well well well, what have we hear?" he croaked. _Was that **my** voice? Damn, I need to get out of here ASAP._ Shepard thought. He moved toward the edge of the elevator shaft to see just what was going on down there. His eyes took a second to adjust to the darkness down the shaft, but after a while he saw keepers crawling all over the walls. Mindlessly attempting to repair the damage caused by those darn organics.

_Poor little guys, they've been in overdrive these last few years. First Sovereign and his geth, now this? _He sat there looking around in mild amusement when the earpiece in his hand came alive.

"Ah, there we go! Invinciblis this is dreadnaught Marco, we have Comms again over." Shepard nearly fell into the elevator shaft in his surprise as he fumbled with the earpiece trying to put it on.

"Roger that Marco, were trying to patch in with the rest of the fleet now over."

As Shepard was moving around to a safer spot he managed to hit his broken ribs on the ground and yelled out.

"AH damn it!"

"Who is this? Identify yourself!"

"Son of a… This is Commander Shepard… of the Normandy." He managed to wheeze between breaths.

"Commander Shepard? You're alive?" the man asked inanely.

"Of course he's alive idiot! You think something as small as the citadel exploding would kill _him? _What's your location sir?" Shepard managed a weak grin at the comment.

"I'm on the citadel… on the presidium spire."

"We'll get a shuttle there immediately sir, don't move."

"No worries, I'm not going anywhere." He sighed as he realized he was going to make it after all.

* * *

"How long are we gonna search this place Sarge? There aint nobody here that's still alive." The marines annoyed tone and his crass comment got to Tali in a way she hadn't anticipated.

"We'll stop when we find him, not before! Don't you care that there are peoples loved ones down there?"

"She's right." The Sergeant rumbled. "I hear another word outta you besides yes sir and you're in deep. Understand?" with his commanding officer staring him down the man saluted with a crisp, "yes sir." and went back to looking under rubble for any survivors.

They were still searching the large area around where the beam had been, where so many had died trying to sprint for the only hope they had. Hundreds of charred bodies and vehicles littered the approach out of no mans land, the area between the still standing buildings of London and the base of the beam. They had only found a handful of survivors form that charge. Most were burned beyond recognition, unable to do anything but scream when conscious. A few still had mobility with few burns or scars, but these had come later. Harbinger had already left the beam in search of new prey by the time those ones had gotten there. Liara had been tending to the wounded as best she could, but the type of wounds she was dealing with weren't something she could help with. Tali felt for her though, she was still trying to comfort men and women who would most certainly not live through the night.

"I hate to say it Tali. But the Scanning equipment we acquired isn't picking up a thing. I… I don't think Shepard's down here." Garrus' voice came in from the transport, following the ground team from the air.

"How could he not be here? No, he's here somewhere, we just need to keep looking."

"Fine, we'll keep looking until the end of this shift but whether you like it or not you _are_ going to get some rest after this."

"I can't Garrus. Knowing he's here somewhere, trapped o-or maybe in pain…"

"I know Tali, but if you pass out from exhaustion it will hardly help Shepard now will it?"

"But-"

"Tali! We will find him, I promise." Garrus' voice sounded more determined than comforting.

"I… ok Garrus, your right. Let's finish our shift and get back to base."

After another hour or so Garrus landed the transport and gathered up Tali and the ground team for the ride back. The trip back was fairly quiet. Everyone was dealing with his or her own demons silently. Which is why the burst of static from her omnitool made her jump a good foot and a half out of her seat.

"This is Admiral Hackett on all Alliance channels, I need to speak with a Quarian named Tali Zorah Vas Noramndy. If spotted please escort her to the nearest communications relay." As she listened her first thought was that she was in some kind of trouble, but grew more and more hopeful as it went. She had to think for a second about why her omnitool even received the message at all. But remembered she had hacked into their network so she could receive news from the ground teams if they found Shepard. Speaking quickly she turned toward the pilot.

"Get us to the F.O.B. immediately, full throttle."

"Of course ma'm." A few minutes later she jumped out of the shuttle before it landed, using the leg muscles Shepard seemed so fascinated with to hit the ground running.

She burst into the camp Commanders tent and immediately introduced herself.

"Tali Zorah Vas Normandy, I need to speak with Admiral Hackett." She blurted.

_Slow down girl, you've flustered the poor man._ The Commander had an almost comical look of confusion as he reached behind him for something, never taking his eyes off her.

He brought out a small headset and slid it across the table he was sitting at.

"Thank you sir, I'll be right back." She snapped the headset up and quickly exited the tent only to stop in her tracks as she stared.

"What?" Garrus asked as he stood with arms crossed. He had the entire Normandy crew lined up with him.

"What are you all doing here?"

"You don't think we'd all just sit here and twiddle our thumbs if there might be news on the Commander do you?" Garrus replied.

"Where is my Battle master?" Grunt demanded.

"Yes, I must confess I wish to hear any news as well." Samara said as smoothly as ever.

Tali was a little curious about how Garrus had managed to get _every _crew member from the Normandy together in less than five minutes, but she didn't question.

"I'm about to talk to Hackett, I haven't received whatever news he might give, I actually don't know if it's even about Shepard." With that Grunt slowly turned his head to stare Garrus down.

"Come on Grunt, nothing a couple of beers can't solve… right?" Garrus asked nervously.

"Ok everyone, let's go. We'll find out what he wants together." Tali suggested.

"Right behind you." Garrus was still wearily watching Grunt as he answered.

"Yeah, lets get this out of the fu… I mean, let's hurry up." Jack's frustration at not cussing got a chuckle out of Garrus.

"Something you want to say Garrus?" Jack asked far too sweetly.

"Uh… no, no not really."

"Smart man." Jack fell in behind Tali as they all moved to the edge of camp to hear the news.


	6. Butcher's Bill

Butcher's Bill

"Sh… Shepard?"

Shepard's eyes flew open at the sound of that wonderful voice, the voice he'd dreamed about for what felt like days. But when he opened his mouth no sound came out, his body unable to comply. He simply stared instead. His eyes excluded all else; he did not care where he was, only that she was there. Tali slowly walked toward him between rows of gurneys almost hesitantly.

She stopped a few feet away and just stared. He wondered what was wrong, but the haze that filled his mind prohibited all thought. He wanted to leap from this table and tackle her with a hug so fierce it might crush her, but instead he simply stared back. He didn't have the words to describe her at that moment. She had her usual suit on, with its circular designs and purple material. But beautiful didn't quite express the awe he felt from just seeing her.

She finally moved forward again and leaned over him, her helmet inches from his face.

"I knew you weren't dead." She said it very carefully, slowly. It didn't seem like her.

"They all told me it was certain, but I wouldn't listen. I-I knew you wouldn't leave me." She began to cry, her mask emitting small sobs and her body trembled a little, making him fervently wish he could move to comfort her. But despite her trembling she gently carressed his face with long slender fingers in a swirling motion, sometimes passing over scars and what felt like stubble on his chin. He vaguely remembered having shaved before the battle for Earth, and wondered exactly how long he'd been unconscious, but the thought soon sank into the depths of his fog filled mind before he could really process it. She continued on that way for a long time, just barely moving her finger and staring into his eyes. eventually she stood up and dragged a nearby chair to his bedside.

"How …bad?" He finally managed to croak through a mouth that felt as rough as sandpaper.

"Your asking about the fleet, aren't you?" She asked with a sniffle, but still a bit more of her usual pep in her voice. He nodded, and she continued.

"The fleet as a whole was greatly diminished, maybe a third made it out before the crucible fired." Shepard closed his eyes in anguish. _All those people…gone forever. All because of some stupid machine. _He thought gravely.

"You, on the other hand, are very badly banged up." She said softly as she pulled out a chart from the bedside table and held it up for him. He tried to reach for it but found his arms wouldn't move. Looking down in slight annoyance he saw the gurney he was on held him in restraints.

Looking back at the chart, all thoughts of moving vanished. He was _very _badly banged up.

Both arms had tissue damage on and under the skin, severe burns in numerous places throughout his body, and both his legs were just as broken as he'd surmised. He'd managed to break only 3 ribs, though it felt like all of them, and had minor and not so minor lacerations in so many places it didn't bear thinking about. No wonder Tali had hesitated earlier; he would be quite a sight.

"They say you'll make a full recovery, mostly due to your cybernetics." Tali said as she put the chart back on the table.

"The doctors said I should've waited longer before I talked to you but…" she hung her head a little and started nervously playing with her fingers in that way he so loved.

"I didn't realize how bad it was until I saw you. For a second I thought the doctors were lying to make me feel better. Yet here you are, only barely awake and still concerned with galactic safety." The way she said it left no doubt in his mind she had a smile on underneath that visor. But try as he might the blackness was starting to fog up his vision again, his eyelids like lead weights.

"I love you." He whispered so quietly she might not of even heard it, but it was the best he could do as he started to dream.

* * *

Tali Stared at his sleeping form for a long time. He was so wounded it made her wince every time she saw a new gash or tear, which was a lot. The fact that he was here and alive was the only thing keeping her from openly crying again. She ran a finger along his cheek as gently as she could, and then slowly got up.

"I love you too." She finally responded as she turned and headed out of the makeshift hospital. She would gladly stay at his bedside for as long as she was able, but he needed his sleep and she had things she needed to take care of. Most importantly, letting the crew know his condition. She made her way through a series of hallways and almost past the receptionist area when the woman behind the desk waved her down.

"Excuse me, miss Tali Zorah?" the woman asked quickly.

"Um, yes. What's the problem?" Tali asked nervously.

"No, no problem ma'm. I just was told to inform you that Doctor Chakwas wanted to see you as soon as possible." The receptionist was already looking back down at her computer and looking as if she'd already forgotten the conversation, but Tali thanked her anyway and resumed her exit from the hospital. She walked through fabric flaps that were the replacement for the doors that once stood there and made her way to the new camp she'd been stationed at. It was essentially a gathering point for civilians who had managed to survive the holocaust that had fallen from the sky, but few had come. The Reapers, it turned out, were far too efficient. She walked in a slow and deliberate pace, taking in all the city still had to offer, this place had been beautiful once. There were planters and benches with the occasional open field she assumed was once a park, judging by the burnt out stumps and patches of yellow grass. The planters were all blackened ashtrays, the benches charred and their metal sagging. _Yes, _she thought, _this place was certainly quite beautiful once. _

"Hey there girl, daydreaming again?" The familiar voice jerked her from her thoughts.

"Kasumi?" Tali looked around but couldn't see her, which was hardly a surprise. Then jumped a little when she appeared a few feet in front of her, leaning against a container stacked along the road. Kasumi was wearing her usual outfit; hood and all, with the line down her lower lip a purplish hue.

"The one and only! So how are you holding up?" Kasumi leaned back off the wall and made her way closer to Tali. That little smile never leaving her face.

"Me? You aren't worried about Shepard?" Tali asked more than a little surprised. She'd been expecting to go over Shepard's condition a hundred times before everyone was satisfied.

"Yes you. Shep can generally handle any trouble he can get into. Well, so can you, but I meant emotionally."

"I see." Tali's eyes were half lidded, feigning anger.

"Oh come on now cutie, you know I didn't mean it like that. Besides, I try to leave comments like _that_ to Garrus." Tali couldn't help but laugh as she pictured Garrus stuttering and trying to recover from a verbal slip up.

"He is good at those."

"Very. Oh and if your looking for the rest of the crew they're just over there behind those tents. Be careful out there girl." Kasumi winked before disappearing again to where ever it was she went when she did that. _Probably looking for her next mark. _Tali thought with another small giggle as she started off in the direction she had pointed at. For the first time in a long time she felt… good. Really good. There was no impending threat they had to deal with, no missions that needed doing. Maybe now she could finally keep him all to herself. _Not to mention he still owes me a house. _Her face heated up as she thought about just what she wanted to do to break in their new home.

As she weaved her way through the various tents and containers that were being used as houses until repairs could begin, her mind started to wander. House designs, scenic locations, the kind she'd only seen in books about her home planet all whirling around in her skull. She was so caught up in her thoughts she almost passed the group she had been searching for. She stopped and made her way to them.

"Ah! Our Commanders guardian angel has finally arrived!" Garrus quipped.

_Guardian angel? _She smiled. _I rather like the sound of that._ Grunt looked up from his meal of what looked like Varren meat and, upon see her got up and grabbed his shotgun.

"Going somewhere Grunt?" Zaeed had a slightly amused look as he watched the krogan grab his gear.

"Guarding my battlemaster while he cannot do it himself." And with that he turned on his heels and started stalking off toward the hospital.

"Dedicated bastard." Zaeed muttered.

"What news of Commander Shepard Tali? I am sure all here would be glad to hear it." Samara gazed lazily around as the chorus of voices agreed.

"I'd prefer not to say it twice, where is everyone else?" Tali spoke the question at Samara but it was Miranda who answered.

"Joker is coordinating with the fleet and transporting supplies and personnel from ship to ship. Jacob is aboard the shield fleet with the scientist's and Kasumi is nowhere to be found as usual." Miranda shook her head at that last.

"I have already spoken with Kasumi. But if this is everyone then I'll guess I'll start." She told them the physical damage was fairly severe but salvageable, and that he had seemed fine when she talked to him. But other than that only time and rest were essential.

"Maybe I should get me some of those implants. Goddam useful those are." Zaeed muttered to himself.


	7. The Slow Process

**Hey everybody, I just wanted to thank you all for the reviews and feedback. It truly is what keeps me writing this story. I'm still figuring out how this site actually works, so any confusion in chapter names or the like is my fault and I apologize. Let's dig in shall we? "Good bread good meat, good god let's eat!**

* * *

The Slow Process

Shepard had been awake for a few minutes, but kept his eyes closed and just listened to the sounds of the hospital. Nurses moving around, gurney wheels echoing down the far hallway. Oddly, he hadn't heard moans or anything from his fellow wounded.

_Maybe they put me in a room by myself. _He mused. _Wouldn't want some lowly marine to cough on the great Commander Shepard! Perish the thought! _He snorted in disgust and felt his ribs creak in response. Opening his eyes he carefully glanced around the room, making sure to not move his head to fast.

He found he in fact _was_ in a room by himself. He shook his head slightly in amusement and continued surveying his new domain. It was a square room; rather spatial in that it was far larger than most individual hospital rooms he'd been in before. It was maybe 25 feet across from one wall to the other; the door was located on the other side of the room and to the right. He and his gurney were in the far right corner of the room from the door. The room itself was covered in what he could only describe as children's wallpaper. It had a plethora of colors and animals, most of which were mythical.

He sighed slightly as he realized the storm of verbal sparring his new abode would likely provoke. He had already started going through rebuttals to Garrus' spectral jibes when he heard a noise in the opposite corner by the door. Sitting in a chair that was hilariously too small for him, sat Grunt. Trying to be as quiet as possible and watching the door all at the same time was apparently getting to him, his scrunched up face said it all.

"Grunt? You're the last person I expected to see sitting there." He said weakly. His voice was certainly still weak, but also certainly not as bad as before.

Grunt's head whipped around and a smile creased his lizard like skin.

"About time battle master. Your mate wouldn't shut up about you." He sat up with a grateful look and rubbed his back hump until it popped so loudly a nurse outside dropped her tray of utensils as she passed.

"Human chairs are pitiful. Anyway, I'm here because it's my duty to defend my battle master while he cannot." Grunt stated matter-of-factly.

"Knowing Krogans, I'd think you'd leave a battle master if you thought he was weak." Shepard was genuinely curious about this now. It was a trait of his he'd been told, that his genuine curiosity and willingness to help other cultures and people were what made such strong connections for just about everyone he'd ever met.

"If he was weak, and his weakness caused injury, then yes. He would have few followers afterward. But if he fought a battle or a war with honor, and strength; then more would flock to his banner, even if he lost." Grunt had a look of pride in his eyes as he spoke. "You, battle master, have just single-handedly saved a galaxy. I would defend you until my dying breath."

"I'm honored Grunt." Shepard said humbly as he nodded to his most ferocious crewman.

"The honor will always be mine battle master."

"You just can't help but inspire loyalty can you Shepard?" Garrus strode into the room with a lopsided smile. Behind him the entire crew of the Normandy piled in after him.

Liara was the first to break through the crowded doorway and strode up to his bed. Without pausing she plopped herself down on his bed, careful not to land on anything.

"Just how many times do you intend to scare us like this Shepard?" she asked sternly.

Before he could reply Jack walked up beside Liara and leaned against the wall at the foot of his bed. "Yea, king of the boy scouts should know how to duck by now right?"

"I do not believe "ducking" would have been a useful tactic in his situation." Samara practically glided across the floor.

"We got more in common then you thought then eh Shepard?" Garrus chuckled slightly.

"Ok ok! I get it." Shepard replied hoarsely, taken aback by the bombardment of concern and questions. Eventually he answered everyone's questions, but decided to not tell them what had transpired on the citadel when they pressed him. He wasn't up for that much talking yet. Talk about the citadel got him thinking though.

"I appreciate the concern everyone, really, but I have to ask. What happened to EDI, or the Geth?" he looked around and saw the smiles fade, he knew what the answer was just by those looks.

"EDI… seems to be dead commander." _Miranda, _He thought._ Always willing to be the bearer of bad news._

"And the Geth?" He prodded further.

"Hackett's still investigating, but they too appear inert… How did you know that Commander?" Miranda asked as she took a step closer.

"I told you I'd explain later, but please, right now I'd like some privacy."

"The Commanders right, come on everyone get out of my patients room please." Doctor Chakwas walked in and started herding everyone back out. As soon as everyone has left she turned around and stared at him for a moment.

"Something in my teeth doc?" Shepard asked with a grin.

"Oh shut up you." She said with a chuckle. "I'm debating whether I should allow Tali in to see you." She paused and re-evaluated what she was going to say. "But not only is she busy, you're exhausted and I can tell. Don't bother arguing." Shepard huffed in disappointment but couldn't really argue. He _was _tired.

"Get some sleep and I'll see to it she is here next time. But no naughty business, your heart rate needs to stay within normal levels." She sated firmly.

"Yes ma'm."


	8. Old Grievances

Old Grievances

Tali fidgeted as she sat inside the small shuttle that was making it's way spaceward. It was an alliance vessel, so it did not accommodate her physique at all. Her hips were squished against either side of the slim frame and the safety harness dug into her torso with far too much tension. Aside from that, she'd rate the ship as much better than say, the Mako. As powerful and safe as it was, it had to be the most cramped and uncomfortable vehicle in known space. She blushed slightly every time she thought of the Mako, as she knew why Shepard had always taken her along now. Even then he had liked her to be close, she had just never noticed it. Or rather, she _had _noticed but was too busy fantasizing about him to realize he was doing the same with her. She had thought her fantasies of being with him nothing more than a foolish girls dream. _Besides_, she had always told herself, _he's nice to everyone, not just me. _But looking back at it now, she realized that's _why _she loved him so much. He had listened carefully to what everyone said, no matter the species or gender, and not only promised to help, but actually carried through and did it. He'd helped everyone, in every rung of galactic society. And then he'd saved them all. A more selfless individual she had never found, or even heard of throughout all of history, and that man loved _her._ She almost giggled at the impossible thought but restrained herself. She was an Admiral of the Quarian fleet now. _Time to put your game face on, _As Garrus would say. She worked her omnitool and got it to show her the message she had received from the Admiralty board.

_Admiral Tali Zorah, _It read.

_The Quarian fleet is in need of your particular expertise on Geth systems and hardware. You are hereby requested to return to the Neema at your earliest convenience. _

_Keelah Se'lai. _

Tali had read the message a few times now but couldn't see why they needed her input on the Geth. _What was Admiral Xen even for if she couldn't figure this out?_ She thought to herself. _And just what did they expect __**me **__to do about it?_ Leaving such thoughts behind, she watched the shuttle slowly close in on the Neema through a small window on the port side.

"Alliance vessel this is the Neema, identify yourself and your purpose." Came a voice over the pilot's comm. System.

"We are here to deliver one Admiral Zorah to the Quarian Fleet."

"Verify."  
"Verify? How do we-"

"Neema this is Admiral Zorah." She cut in, saving the pilot from an embarrassing conversation.

"After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and shoals of dust. I will return to where I began." She finished solemnly.

"Verified, welcome back Admiral Zorah. Please proceed to exterior bay 457 for a sterilization crew." The human pilot looked at his readouts and made his way to the coordinates the flight controller had sent. Once he had landed she thanked him and started moving toward the nearest decontamination chamber in the hangar. The hangar was more wide than tall, and could accommodate 3 or even 4 shuttles at once. She walked by the sterilization crew as they hustled over to the shuttle she'd come in on. They were already swarming over it with a practiced effort as the doors to the decontamination room closed behind her. Tali rocked back and forth on her toes as she waited for the cycle to end and the doors to open, letting her onto the Neema proper.

After a few seconds they slid open to reveal a familiar figure.

"Auntie Raan!" Tali squeaked excitedly as she hugged the only real family she had left.

"Hello Tali, I thought it best that I speak to you first before you met with the other Admirals."

"Why? Is something wrong?" Tali backed out of the hug, her worried frown covered by her visor.

"Wrong? Yes you could say that. I'll tell you straight Tali, the Geth died when the crucible fired… all of them." Tali stared blankly for a second as the implications hit home.

"You mean all the ones _here _don't you? The ones in this system?"

"No Tali, I mean _every where. _Xen tried speaking with the Gethoutside this system via the Geth equipment aboard their own ships, but to no success."

"And the ones helping our civilians on Rannoch?" Tali's worry quickly climbing.

"Nothing, all reports said the Geth on Rannoch suddenly stopped working at around the same time the energy from the crucible hit their mass relay. The Geth are gone Tali."

That last line hit Tali like a brick to the stomach thrown by a prime. _Gone? They can't be gone __**completely**_.

"What about the Geth still behind the Veil? They were nowhere near a mass relay, couldn't they still be alive?"

"It's possible…" Raan said slowly. She turned and gestured for Tali to follow. They walked in silence for a while, each churning over what the other had said. Finally Admiral Raan broke the silence.

"The rest of the Admirals are just through here Tali, we will be discussing the fleet's next move." She went to the door and held it open for Tali to enter. The first thing Tali noticed was that, as usual, Admirals Zaal Koris and Han Gerral were arguing.

"How can we just assume the Turians will Cooperate?" Han was saying in an annoyed voice.

"Because they are our allies now Han! There's no need for your constant mistrust of everything not Quarian!" Zaal Koris retorted.

"And what does out newest member think, hmm?" Han asked looking at Tali.

"Can I assume your speaking of food supplies?" Tali saw the flicker of surprise in Han's eyes and knew she was right. It made sense, the Turians were the only species that could eat their food and the Quarian live ships were stuffed with food due to the civilians being gone.

"Very well, I think the Turians would share what supplies they have in exchange for our food." Tali stated.

"Oh really? And why should they do that?" Han demanded sarcastically.

"Because they'll have a surplus due to not having as many soldiers live through the fight as they'd hoped; and because all our ships have a skeleton crew only, thus making our giving them enough food for everyone a rather light burden."

"How… How could you know that about the Turians?" Han asked quietly.

"Let's just say I have an inside source on the Turian military." Tali replied smoothly.

"Then it's decided Han, we will ask to share resources with the Turians." Zaal Koris concluded. Han sighed and looked around at the other Admirals, then nodded and left without saying another word.

Zaal koris stared at the door his constant adversary had exited through, and then turned his attention to Raan and Tali.

"I'm glad you're here Tali, that man will be the death of me someday, I swear."

"I have Informed Tali of the Geth situation Zaal Koris, but perhaps we should wait until our more pressing concerns have been dealt with."

"Wait? No we shouldn't wait to help the Geth, they're people just like us and they need our help." Tali said a little more indignantly then she meant to. Both Admirals exchanged brief glances before continuing.

"Tali, I didn't mean we shouldn't help, I simply mean that as we are, we _can't _help."

"She's right." Zaal Korris continued. "Until we can get back to Rannoch for resupply, everything we do is on borrowed time. Getting back to our world _has_ to be our first priority. I'm sorry Tali." He finished with a hint of sorrow.

"I understand, and I agree with you, but we have to treat the Geth like people." Tali turned and started to leave but added over her shoulder, "Lest the likes of Han Gerral make us reenact the Geth rebellion." With that she left the room and started walking aimlessly down the corridors of the ship she had once called home.


	9. Maternal Privileges

Maternal Privileges

Shepard shifted on his bed in irritation, getting a sharp pain from his ribs for his efforts.

He hated being immobile, almost as much as he hated being babied. Of course, a Hospital meant exactly those two things were bound to happen, usually at the same time. He finally had the room to himself for a bit, having managed to convince Grunt that not eating was generally bad.

When he first woke up he'd thought Doctor Chakwas had brought Tali in to see him, but it had just been grunt muttering in his sleep.

_Probably dreaming about someone trying to kill me so he could finally maul something._ Shepard grinned at the thought but continued moving around on his bed, vainly trying to find a more comfortable position. After a minute or so he decided he was as comfy as he was going to get and settled down in thought. He still wanted to call Joker and tell him how sorry he was, but it felt far too impersonal to do something like that over a comm link or Q.E.C. Well, if he could stand long enough for a Q.E.C. _Or stand at all. _He reminded himself. _I wonder just how long this paraplegic thing is going to last._

"John Shepard, you have a _**lot **_of explaining to do." Shepard's head whipped up so fast he groaned in pain before he could stop himself. There in the doorway was his mother, looking at him like he had just smashed aunt Fay's favorite vase all over again. Captain Hannah Shepard's expression changed quickly when she heard him groan, and she quickly crossed the room with worry creasing her brow. His mother looked different then the last time he'd seen her, he noticed as she moved closer. She had more gray in her hair to either side of her vibrant blue eyes. Her dark brown hair was in a bun under her navy blue beret hat, and her Captains dress uniform was creased in ways that looked like she'd been wearing that same suit for days.

"My word John what have you been doing? Running through barbwire?" His mother asked as she knelt down beside his bed.

"More like running through lasers." Shepard flinched as she made a face at him for being so flippant. But her features softened and he saw tears start to well up in her eyes.

"All the marines downstairs tell me you were there on the front lines John." She spoke in a small voice, very unlike her usual air of command.

"They say that they saw you get shot by the largest reaper in the entire fleet."

His mother's unyielding and tough demeanor broke down then, crying she reached around and gently put her arm around him and hugged him. It hurt, but he wasn't about to tell her that.

"I'm here mom, I'm ok." He kept repeating to her as she quietly cried into his shoulder. He stroked her back in an effort to soothe her, but it seemed to only make her cry harder. After what seemed like hours his mother slowly pulled back and wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but for a while I thought I'd lost you." She managed between sniffles.

She stood up and crossed the room to grab one of the chairs Grunt had been using as a footrest. By the time she had dragged it back she seemed to be mostly in control of herself once more.

"So." She said only occasionally sniffling now . "Just how did my boy end up charging kilometer tall killing machines? Or did you do that just to make me age faster?" She smiled as he took as deep a breath as his aching chest allowed and began to tell his story from leaving earth to saving it. It was a longer story than he had intended, mostly due to her asking questions then giving him looks that said she knew when he was lying when he tried to evade it. several hours later his mother sat looking at him with a thoughtful gaze.

"So am I insane mother? To be confined to this dreary hospital for the remainder of my days?" he asked with feigned horror.

"Oh your insane alright, I'm just glad I raised such a feisty child, otherwise I don't think we'd be having this conversation." His mother leaned over and kissed him on his forehead. As she leaned back he made up his mind about something.

"Mom, how long will you be staying groundside?" He asked.

"Oh not too long I should think, I just got leave because my son was Commander Shepard and injured. They made a bit of an exception. Why?"

"Because there's someone here you need to meet. I believe I found the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with." His mother stared at him like he had grown a second head.

"How during all that did you manage to fall in love with someone?" She asked incredulously.

"Actually it's someone I've known since I first became a spectre." He said calmly.

"Well of course I want to meet her! Is she around here somewhere?"

"Calm down mom she's probably with one of the fleets right now, but I'm sure she'll be back soon."

"So who is she?" Shepard closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

_Moment of truth_. He thought to himself. Then opened his eyes.

"Her name is Tali Zorah Vas Normandy, and she's a Quarian." He wasn't really sure what he'd expected from her when he said that. But surely it was anything but the total indifference he saw.

"Oh how wonderful! This is very exciting, what kind of girl is she? Do they have any weird customs I should know about when I meet her? She doesn't have any tattoos does she? No I suppose not with those suits. When were you going to marry her? Did you-"

"Mom… mom…. MOM!" He managed to shout through her tide of questions.

"What? Oh I'm sorry dear. I got caught up in the moment. I'm just so happy for you!" the smile on her face was the largest he's seen in decades.

"Thanks mom, really. But I'd rather not have Doctor Chakwas come running in here because she thinks I'm having a heart attack."

"Oh your just no fun at all" His mother stood up from the chair still smiling.

"I also can't dance." He replied with a grin.

She snorted a laugh and started toward the door but stopped as she got there.

"Heal up boy, and let me know when your girl gets here." With that she left the room but he thought he heard her say, "Just wait till the girls on the bridge hear about this!"

* * *

Tali was still wandering the halls of the Neema after her meeting with the other Admirals. Looking at all the empty homes and barren streets, she hadn't seen another soul as she walked around aimlessly. It was depressing really, knowing that the ship she had lived on the majority of her life was now devoid of all the things that reminded her of home. But she kept walking, her mind blank as she took a leisurely pace down the road.

_I wonder what Shepard would think of this. _She stopped in her tracks as the thought struck her. _Would he somehow think less of me for having lived in such a place? Surely not _She assured herself_. _But even she had to confess it was a bad way to live. The houses were never more than a foot apart from the wall of their neighbor, and they had no yards to speak of. Just a small path that lead from the door to the "road" they happened to live on. Some were stacked on top of the others and had to use a ladder just to get to their front door.

But she could rejoice a little. Now thanks to Shepard, her people could finally live normal lives, free from the confines of these damned ships. Maybe now people wouldn't think of Quarians as second-rate citizens and thieves. _And maybe soon I could buy some clothes just for Shepard and me, and show him just how much I appreciate him. _She blushed furiously at the thought but decided to look for something anyway. As she ran through a list of stores in her head she thought she heard a voice from behind her. Turning around she looked and saw nothing but open space. Frowning now, she began to move back the way she'd come.

"Tali!" Admiral Raan came around the corner looking like she was searching for something.

"Over here Auntie Raan." Tali said as she picked up her pace. Admiral Raan looked up from her search and started walking towards Tali unhurriedly. _She doesn't seem upset; I wonder why she was looking for me if not for some emergency. _Tali shook her head to clear her thoughts and closed the distance to Raan.

"What are you doing way out here child? You know there's no one in this part of the ship anymore." Raan had a curious tone to her voice as she said it, as if she was judging Tali's mental stability.

"Just taking a walk Auntie Raan, thinking about my old home does leave _some _good memories." Tali added with a small smile.

"I suppose it does at that. Walk with me Tali." Admiral Raan started a slow walk that Tali matched as they strolled down the empty street.

"So Tali, there's a few things I wanted to talk to you about." Raan started casually.

"Um, ok." Tali replied nervously.

"I want to talk to you as your friend Tali, not an Admiral. Please calm down." Raan's reassurance worked a little as Tali felt the tightness leave her muscles.

"As I was saying Tali, I had a few questions. Most of which are in regards to your Captain." Raan said slowly.

"My Captain? Why would you-"

"It seemed to me Tali, that during your trial he was… more adamant then most that you be found innocent." Raan rode right over the top of her as she finished.

"Shepard will do anything for his crew." Tali said proudly as she remembered him yelling at the entire Admiralty board on her behalf.

"Be that as it may, it came across like he had feelings for you. Is this true?" Raan asked the question very calmly, but it hit Tali like a dreadnaught in FTL. She began to play with her hands and rock back and forth on her toes as she answered.

"I… um, well, yes but I… I'm not sure if… what I mean to say is-"

"Tali, do you love this human?" Raan asked in a voice Tali hadn't heard before, but all at once she stopped fidgeting and moving as she heard the question.

_More than you could ever know._

"Yes, yes I do Auntie Raan. I Love him so much it hurts." She stated it steadily, without even a hint of a stutter. Raan looked at her for a long time, her gaze searching for a lie that wasn't there. Finally she sighed and put her hands on Tali's shoulders.

"I'm happy for you child, I see the truth in your words and it brings warmth to these old bones. But you do realize the repercussions of this choice, do you not?" Tali cocked her head in confusion but thought she might know what her aunt was talking about.

"Do you mean our inability to have children?" Tali was rewarded by a nod from Raan and she continued.

"Of course I know that, but it doesn't matter to me. All I want is to be with him wherever he goes. Besides, he promised he'd build me a house on Rannoch." Tali added in with a slight giggle.

"Did he now?" Raan's eyes showed her amusement through the mask.

"Yes, though I think I'll take charge of interior designs, Shepard is _terrible_ with colors."

They laughed as they made their way back toward the shuttle bay where Tali's return shuttle was still waiting.

"Auntie Raan? Would you like to come meet him? You know, informally?" Tali asked when the laughter had died down.

"Of course Child, though I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot more of him if he's building you a house on the homeworld."

"Yes, but I would also like you to meet my other friends I met aboard the Normandy. They are some of the best in their fields."

"Now that would be interesting. But I'm not sure how long I could go for Tali, the fleet needs me, us, now more than ever."

"I know, but it would only take a few hours at most to meet everyone, and I'm sure Shepard is up by now."

"I'll think about it Tali, but I have to go now. Your uncle will be upset with me as it is for taking so long to get back. Take care Child, Keelah Se'lai."

"Keelah Se'lai" Tali stepped back and let the doors close between her and Raan, then started off toward her return flight to Earth.


	10. Old Soldiers

Old Soldiers

Shepard grinned widely as he stared at the ceiling above his bed. Listening to the sounds coming from just outside his door.

"Na me and Shepard go way back, I knew him before he became a Spectre you know." Garrus' voice floated in.

"Really?" came a small feminine voice.

"Of course, he had a lot fewer scars back then. Say, you're not too busy around here right? When do you get off work? Maybe I can show you the Normandy crew."

Apparently Garrus had cornered a nurse and was testing his pick-up lines on her.

"No I cant, really I have a lot of paperwork to do and-"

"Ah come on, it'll be fun I promise. We'll have more fun then the time I went out drinking with Grunt and Jack."

"Who? And what was so fun about it?"

_Big mistake girl, _Shepard thought, his smile still splitting his face. _Now your gonna get it._

"Ah now there's a story! You see we had just left Illium after saving an Asari Justicar from a gang of Eclipse sisters, and all we wanted to do was go relax somewhere. So we got the commander to head to Omega and…" Garrus continued on with the girl listening intently, her nurse duties completely forgotten. Grunt moved around on his chair and snorted loudly at the embellishments from Garrus' story.

"Heh, I love this story." Grunt's deep voice easily reached Shepard even though he was obviously trying to be quiet. Shepard just shook his head in amusement as Garrus' story continued. A new voice suddenly interrupted Garrus' tall tale, cutting him short. While the girl he was talking to squeaked in surprise.

"Garrus leave the poor girl alone, she has duties to see to." Doctor Chakwas kept moving while she talked and entered Shepard's, "nursery." as Garrus had taken to calling it. She was looking at her omnitool as she entered but spared a brief glance at Grunt when she passed him.

"Grunt you really should find something better to do than hover around Shepard."

Shepard heard a growl of frustration from Garrus still outside in the hall while Grunt stood up to defend his position.

"If my battle master agrees then I will, otherwise, ordering me to do anything might be bad for your health." Grunt's smile did little to ease the threat.

"Oh really? I'll remember this next time your injured Grunt, maybe I should get the techs here to start building a full body cast for the next time you-"

"Yea yea, I'm going." Grunt conceded as he ducked under the small door to leave. The top of the doorframe was still crushed from when Grunt had forgotten to duck under it last.

"Now then Commander, I have some good news and some bad news." She said as she shut off her omnitool.

"Hmm… bad news first Doc."

"Very well. The bad news is that you're confined to this hospital for 2 more weeks." She saw him start to argue but intervened.

"No buts, that is non-negotiable. I wont risk you breaking the ribs I worked so hard to set.

Now the good news." She paused to let her ultimatum set in. "The good news is that your legs are healing at a miraculous rate, so far as I can tell you should have full functionality within a week."

"What?" he blurted in astonishment.

"You heard me, those Cerberus upgrades are practically doing all my work for me."

She paused again as she brought her omnitool back up.

"Your left leg had only minor damage to begin with, so that should be cleared up quickly. Your right leg however was in much worse shape." She scrolled through a few x-rays of his leg as she talked.

"Your Femur and Patella were hit the worst." She pointed to a break on his thigh and a crack on his knee that must've been from the pillar he'd barely escaped from. The spacing between the two seemed right for it anyway.

"Your Tibia came out with a slight hairline fracture and your Fibia is for the most part fine." Shepard scanned over the injuries then took a look at his leg. It really was a miraculous amount of healing.

"So your saying in a weeks time I could be walking around as if nothing has happened?" he raised a skeptical eyebrow at the notion.

"No you won't be quite _that _well healed, you'll likely need assistance from crutches for a few more days after that." Shepard looked at the reports from her omnitool for a bit longer than nodded that he was satisfied and she stowed it away again.

"As for your more minor injuries, you're once again coming along nicely Commander. Most if not all of your bruises should be gone in a few days time; minus the area around the ribs, which will likely remain in a variety of pretty colors for quite some time. Your larger lacerations like the ones on your arms should take about a month or so to heal fully, but most of the smaller ones should be gone in a week, maybe two."

"Well thank you for the good news Doctor Chakwas. I appreciate it." Shepard extended his hand and she shook it warmly.

"It's my pleasure Commander. You may attempt putting weight on your left leg if you wish, but the second it hurts or does anything abnormal you yell for me, ok?"

"Of course." She stood looking at him for a second more before nodding and leaving the room.

He waited for a minute or so to make sure she was gone before he slid himself to the side of the bed and eased himself into a sitting position. He stifled a gasp as his ribs protested the motion. Giving himself a moment to recover, he sat on the edge of the bed with his feet dangling over the edge. His right leg still hurt, but it wasn't nearly as painful as his ribs. He started to ease himself down to the floor as gently as he could and touched his left foot to the linoleum. He slowly and carefully put more and more weight on his foot until he couldn't put more short of standing on it. He sat back after a time and was surprised to find It hadn't hurt very much at all. He smiled and did it over and over again to exercise the muscles. After four or five tries he could start feeling the burn in his calves and thighs, so he slowed down a little to prolong his session. It had been days since he had done anything but fidget and stare at the wall, with only the occasional visit from friends to mix it up a little. He put a hand on the bed behind him and slowly stood all the way up on his left leg. He maintained it for a second or two then eased himself back down to the bed with a hoot of triumph.

"Ha!" he yelled to himself. "Now if only I had my lovely assistant."

"I _hope _your talking about me." Tali was leaning against the entrance of his room with her legs crossed in such a way that made his face heat up instantly.

"Tali! Uh, how long have you been standing there?" He was suddenly very conscious of the fact that he had nothing on but his skivvies. She giggled as he tried to get his bed sheet around himself.

"Oh just long enough to watch you exercising. Fascinating, as always."

"I'll just bet. This must be my punishment for staring while watching you get that suit off." He had given up trying to cover himself; there wasn't really a point anyway.

"Well if your good and the doctor agrees than you can watch as much as you like." She giggled again as she moved off the wall and walked up to his bed. As she sat down next to him he grabbed her hands in his and just looked into her eyes. After a few seconds she started playing with his hands like she used to.

_God I've missed that._

"So I found out some interesting things while I was with the fleet." Tali leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder as she spoke.

"Oh yeah?" he mumbled, resting his chin on her helmet.

"Apparently the Citadel has a mass effect field that the Keepers can activate when it is in danger of falling into orbit." She said it almost lazily.

"That explains a lot." He replied with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, though no one really knows _how _the Reapers moved it in the first place."

"Are you telling me it's stuck here?" Shepard took his chin off her helmet to look at her.

"For the foreseeable future, yes." Tali looked up at him when she said that, but he got the feeling she wanted to say more.

"And what else did you learn up there?"

"A few things, as I said, but most surprising is that Admiral Raan had suspicions about us as far back as my trial."

"That's your Aunt right?" Shepard could tell his question had taken her off guard.

"You aren't even slightly concerned that what remains of my family knows about us?"

"No. Why? Should I be?" his tone was playful as he added, "And besides, _my _family knows about _you."_ He finished with a poke to her stomach.

"What? How? Who?" he could see she was building up steam and cut her off before she blew up.

"Tali relax it's just my mother. I told her about us when she stopped by yesterday and she's desperate to meet you."

"You Bosh' tet, you didn't even warn me! I'll need to clean up my suit and mask at the very least! I can't meet your mother looking like-"

"The most beautiful girl I ever laid eyes on?" he finished for her.

"Shepard really I need to- " He pulled her back down to his bed as she tried to get up but didn't fight it, she would always love being at his side.


	11. The Little Things

The Little Things

A few days had passed since Shepard had taken his "first steps" and already he longed for more. He now spent most of his time off his bed and pacing the floor between the door and the back wall. _Perhaps pacing isn't quite right, more like hobbling. _He corrected himself. But he could tell every time he woke up his leg was feeling twice as strong as the day before. He had the occasional excursion outside his room, but the brief glimpses he got of the city outside made him want to scream in frustration. London; one of Earths most iconic cities, lay in complete ruins while he sat around doing nothing.

_I'm no builder; I'm a destroyer. It's what I was made to do. I fight so others can rebuild in relative safety. Besides, I've earned a rest._ His mind, he had found, was constantly at odds with his heart. But he had to admit; he _had _earned at least a little rest.

"Might run tests on the sea shells." He whispered with a sad smile. Wherever Mordin was now, Shepard hoped he was doing just that. After a moment of silence for his friend, Shepard wobbled his way over to his bed and grabbed his crutches off the bed to set them against the wall. Sitting down he pulled up his recently re-acquired omnitool and searched for his mother's number. After some scrolling he tapped it and waited for his mother to answer him. As he waited he went over various places they could still go and eat at, but was unsurprised when he found none. Most food was given out in ration packs now, there were hardly any people left to man the restaurants, let alone grow the food. _Plus I still can't leave this hospital._

He was startled out of his dark thoughts by his mother finally answering his call.

"Hi John, sorry I took so long to answer; I had to give orders out to my crew."

"Hey mom, why would they need new orders? What could what's left of the brass possibly want them to do?"

"You haven't heard? They found more survivors on the Citadel! Apparently they had a militia installed on the Citadel since I'd been there last, and they managed to save a whole mess of people down by the hospital wing." Shepard's sudden grin made his mother raise an eyebrow.

"I realize it's good news John, but you seem even happier than most." His mother questioned him.

"I'm happier than most because _**I**_ installed that militia." Shepard answered.

"…Wow." His mother stood motionless for a second before continuing.

"I didn't realize I had given birth to superman. I still can't understand how you managed all that in such a short time." His mother's amazed smile swelled him up with pride.

"So why did you call John? Surely not just to impress your mother even further." She asked with a touch of humor.

"Actually mom I called because I want you to meet Tali today." Her face had lit up halfway through the sentence and she answered immediately.

"Of course sweetie, I'll be right over." Then closed the connection. Shepard then leafed over his contacts and touched Tali's name on the display to make the call. After a few seconds she answered.

"Hey Shepard, what's up?" Tali's exuberance never ceased to amaze him.

"Hey beautiful, I called because I want you to meet my mom today." He laughed as she stopped abruptly mid step.

"Of course I'll be there, but I also got word from Auntie Raan that she wanted to come and meet you today. Informally meet you that is, I was just on my way to the landing area to greet her as she landed."

"Oh." _This ought to be good_. "Well then we can all just meet up here then? Seeing as how I'm grounded and all." He added with frustrated look at his crutches.

"Don't worry Shepard, it won't be long before we… I mean, until you get the Normandy back."

"That mask may fool everyone else miss vas Normandy, but I can see you blush under there. And I'll give you two guesses as to which of those two things I'm more looking forward to." He put on his most mischievous smile as he said it, and got a giggle in return.

"Ok Shepard, I'll see you in a while."

"I'll be here." He said sarcastically as she snorted and cut the link. He sat still for a moment as he called up a mental map of his area. There was an abandoned hotel that was largely undamaged near the parliament building, where guests from the various fleets in orbit could stay at if they so wished. His mother was there and thus about a 20 minute walk away. He sighed and leaned back in his bed. He'd wanted to talk to his crew, or "make the rounds" as they sometimes called it; but he didn't have nearly enough time. He hesitated a bit as he noticed something near his door.

"You can stop spying now Kasumi." Shepard called across the room casually. He was rewarded by a frustrated huff as Kasumi decloaked and put a fist on her hip.

"You _are_ going to tell me how you do that one of these days."

"Maybe someday, but not today." He teased. She let her fake frown drop and replaced it with her usual small smile; the one that made you think she knew something funny that you didn't.

"So a meeting of parents huh? Sounds exciting." She walked across the room as if on air, not making a sound.

"Yep, so what brings the galaxies best thief to my humble abode?" He spread his hands to indicate his room.

"You sure know how to flatter a girl Shep. Actually I was looking for Tali, but I can see she'll be busy for a while."

"Didn't just come to see me huh? Should've guessed." His feigned self-pity got a laugh out of her.

"Aww, is poor wittle Shep feewing wonly?" She put out her lower lip for a pout face while she sat in the chair next to his bed. Shepard grinned but continued on.

"So really, why were you wanting to talk with Tali?"

"What, a girl can't even chat with her best friend anymore? Well, I suppose I kinda think of her as a little sister." That last she finished with a thoughtful frown, but shrugged and quickly replaced it with a smile.

"Best friend? I didn't realize you two were that close." He admitted.

"I'm not surprised, men usually don't notice these things." She made a motion with her hand as if shooing a fly away.

"Blind, deaf and dumb, that's us." He layered that with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

"Now Shep, don't get all uppity about it, it's just a fact."

"That so?"

"Sure! Look at Garrus for instance."

"Point taken." He conceded with a nod. Kasumi just laughed and spun around in her swivel chair.

"So glad you saw reason." She said as her chair slowed down its spin. He watched her start the spin again as she leaned her head back against the chair's back. After a minute or so of her just spinning he finally spoke.

"Would you stop that? Your making me dizzy just watching you." Kasumi put both feet down and looked at him with a frown.

"You are just no fun at all."

"My mother said the same thing, I guess a week and a half in a hospital will do that to a person." She laughed and swiveled her chair around to fully face him.

"You've got it light mister. I had to spend a month in a hospital after they fitted my gray box in my skull." Her tone practically dared him to top her story.

"I did spend two years on an operating table." He suggested.

"No that doesn't count, you weren't even conscious." She pointed out.

"Alright alright you win the horrible amount of time in a hospital competition. Not that I'm complaining." She raised her chin with a victorious smile at his admission; then got out of her chair and walked toward the door.

"Ok well good luck with your meeting today Shep."

"Thanks, and Kasumi?" he asked as she started out

"Yea Shep?" she turned around at his question with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you think you could sneak me a gun in here? I feel rather naked without one." Kasumi looked at him for a few seconds then nodded, he could see she understood his worries perfectly.

"Sure thing Shep, anything in particular you want?" she asked.

"A Carnifex would be my first choice, but I suppose a regular predator will do."

"I'm on it Shep, I'll bring it to you soon." She bowed in a formal Japanese manner then left.

Feeling better at just the prospect of having a gun again, he looked at the clock on the wall to see how much time he had to kill.

* * *

Kasumi left Shepard's nursery and stopped a few feet away from his door. Doctor Chakwas _had _to have picked that room on purpose; it was too funny to be a coincidence.

She leaned against the empty receptionists counter with her cloak on and waited for the party to start.

_I'll get you that gun Shep, but I wouldn't miss this little get together for the world._ Still smiling she stood quietly until she saw a woman in a freshly laundered Navy uniform walk in from the far Hallway that lead to the elevators. She was handsome for someone her age, with fairly few wrinkles and an aura of command. _That has to be Shepard's mom._ She nodded to herself as she watched the woman enter his room. _I'll wait out here until the rest of the guests show up, Oh how exciting! _She wanted to giggle like a little girl but kept herself in check. After a few minutes more of waiting and listening to Shepard and his mom laugh and chat, she realized that even though she couldn't make out what they were saying; they were very close to each other's heart. Not all families were that loving and fun. The more she thought about it, the more she saw that Shepard had… everything. He had a loving mother, a Girlfriend, _perhaps fiancée? _That also wanted nothing more than his love, and friends that would never leave him and had proven it through the worst catastrophe the galaxy had ever experienced. But instead of jealousy she felt… approval. If any one man deserved such things in his life, it was this man.

Kasumi was rousted from her thoughts by the appearance of Tali and another Quarian she assumed was this "Auntie Raan" she had heard so much about. Raan had a suit similar to Tali's, but had a different color scheme. Raan's suit was darker than Tali's

And had no circular designs, instead, her suit was mostly black with overlapping white lines the arched downward over each other. She, like Tali, had an hourglass figure that was only emphasized by the suit's form fitting material.

Kasumi walked quietly to the edge of the doorway and leaned against it after Tali and her aunt moved through. Now that she was close enough to hear them all without trouble she smiled in anticipation and watched the scene unfold. Shepard had stood up with the help of his crutches and met Tali and Raan halfway across the room.

"Ah there's my girl! Captain Hannah, this is my Beautiful girlfriend, Tali Zorah Vas Normandy. Tali, this is my Mother Captain Hannah Shepard." He bowed slightly in his mother's direction as he finished.

"It's a pleasure dear, but please just call me Hannah or mom. Captain is only what they call me when I'm working." She took a few steps forward and gave Tali a warm hug.

After a few seconds Tali stood back and began her own introductions.

"Hannah, this is Shala Raan Vas Tonbay, Admiral in the Migrant Fleet."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Hannah, and I must say your son has left quite the impression on the rest of the Migrant fleet and it's Admirals." Raan, extended her hand in what she assumed was the traditional human way, but was surprised when Hannah simply ignored it and hugged her just as warmly as she had Tali.

"If I'm not mistaken Admiral Raan, we may be about to become in-laws, so we might as well get to know one another as well hmm?" Shepard's mother had a heart-warming smile as she pulled back from the hug.

"Yes I suppose you are correct Capt-… I mean Hannah." She finished awkwardly.

"And trust me, I know what you mean by my John leaving an impression everywhere he goes." Hannah gave her son a cross between a stern and proud look. To which Shepard simply smiled and shrugged. Tali laughed lightly and looped her arm through Shepard's as she leaned into him.

"Tali has proven to me that she is indeed in love with you Shepard, and for what you did on Rannoch, I owe you much. But I won't risk my Tali's heart and safety, even for you." Admiral Raan addressed Shepard with a threatening tone that changed the entire atmosphere in a heartbeat. But Shepard took it in stride and matched her icy tone.

"That would make two of us Admiral. Tali is my everything, and no harm will come to her from me. That I swear." Shepard's face looked like it had been chiseled from stone it was so hard. After a few seconds of listening in bewilderment Hannah decided to speak.

"I'm not entirely sure what just happened Admiral, but if you are attempting to second guess my son's word I suggest you stop now. I've heard the way he talks about that girl, the way his face lights up when she's mentioned, and I haven't seen him so excited about anything since he was six during Christmas! My son does everything with his whole heart, and I tell you for sure now, he loves that girl." Hannah pointed to Tali who stood rigid as a fencepost against Shepard's side, watching the exchange in what Kasumi assumed was disbelief. But instead of answering, Admiral Raan just stood there looking at Shepard and Tali, as if weighing what she saw and heard against some internal argument. Finally, she took a deep breath and relaxed then addressed the whole group.

"I'm sorry, I do believe you truly love each other, but I had to be sure. And your mother's defense of you was quite stirring Shepard." She paused to acknowledge Hannah with a nod before continuing. "If you two truly wish to bond, then I give my consent."

Tali squeaked with excitement and leaped over to hug her while she talked.

"Really! Oh thank you Auntie Raan, Thank you so much! I can't tell you how much this means to me, us." She added with a backward glance at Shepard.

"I know Tali, and again, I'm sorry. I wasn't entirely sure such a connection could even exist, but here it is." The Admirals eyes narrowed into what Kasumi had learned to be a smile.

"Now then." Hannah clapped her hands together. "Shall we get to the important part of this meeting?" She pulled up her omnitool and walked over to Admiral Raan.

"What is this?" Raan asked in confusion. Hannah just smiled and said.

"Baby pictures."

Kasumi bit her lip to stifle a laugh and pushed herself off the wall.

_That's my cue_. She thought to herself. Then made her way out of the hospital in search of a gun for Shepard.


	12. Final Preparations

Final Preparations

Shepard sat up from his sleep and rubbed the grit out of his eyes with the back of his hand as he yawned. As he sat up he noted that it caused him far less pain than it had before. Looking at the clock on the far side of the room, he winced when he saw the time. 5:30 A.M. he never did like early morning. He blinked a few times to clear his eyes more completely, and then swung his legs over the side of the bed. He frowned for a second after he did that, it seemed like something was missing. Retracing what he had just done in his mind, he realized he had just moved his right leg with almost no pain at all. His eyes now the widest they'd been since he woke, he laughed and decided to see just how well his leg had healed. Standing up gently he started putting more and more weight on his right leg, the same way he had tested his left a week and a half or so ago. Standing almost completely on his right leg now, he started walking. Just easy steps around the room, making sure he didn't still have a limp. Then finding no problems, he started to jog. At first easing his right foot down with every step, but slowly applying more and more pressure. Finding his room to confining for such an exercise, he flung open the door into the hall and started running. Making sure not to sprint and still keenly feeling for any sort of weird abnormalities, he kept on until he hit the elevators. Stopping and kneading his thigh with his hands, he still couldn't find anything really wrong besides the fact that he could already feel the burning in his muscles from such a short jog. _I probably should've stretched or something first, but damn does this feel good! _His blood pumped faster as he ran back down the hallway he'd came through. As he re-entered the area where his room was located, he saw Doctor Chakwas leaning against her doorframe with a small smile as she watched him run past.

"Take it easy Commander! Remember it's all still new!"

_All the more reason to stress test it. _He thought, but did as she instructed and slowed to a walk as he got to his door. Grinning as he entered his room, he plopped down on his bed and gave a loud whoop to expel some more of his energy. Sitting there for a moment to let his heart rate slow, he re-examined his legs to find that they were already tired just from that tiny excursion. _**Definitely**__ need to do a few more laps with Vega now._ He told himself as he lay down completely and rested his head on the worn out pillow. Sighing contentedly he decided to search the Extranet on his onmitool for more tidbits on Quarian culture. As he read he noticed many similarities between their two species, such as their pre-Morning war economy and their thought processes. As opposed to say, the Krogan and their bloodthirsty minds, the Quarian mind tended to be competitive, yet within reason. Of course the main question everyone inevitably asked was, "what do they look like?" but he skipped over those questions quickly as he already knew the answer to that. _Oh yes, yes I do._ He chuckled to himself as he continued on. He also noticed a lot of the articles were made by other species, and almost none had Quarian opinions, much less Quarian authors. He curled his lip in disgust at what that implied, but once again continued on.

Quarians, he had discovered earlier in his travels, were very social. Apparently they were so social that they spent almost no time at all on the Extranet. After about a fifteen-minute search he could find maybe a handful of entries that had Quarian Authors. Of course, none of them had anything to do with the topic he'd been searching for, but at least they were there. _ If I'm going to marry Tali I want to do it in a way that __**she **__will understand. _He thought to himself as he scanned through his omnitool, _I don't want to take a knee and ask her to marry me only to have her not know what was going on. _But search as he might, he couldn't find the topic he needed and shut his omnitool off in frustration. He worked his was into a sitting position and sat back against the wall above his pillow, then dragged a tired hand across his face. His eyes stared through the far wall as his mind raced. He could ask Admiral Raan, but she was no doubt busy with the fleet having left earth a day or so ago. _So who else?_ _One of the other Admirals? _He shivered as his mind instantly pictured asking Admiral Xen, then laughed at how completely outrageous the very thought was. Shepard shook his head and gave up again on finding a source of information on Quarians. For the day having started so nice it sure was deteriorating quickly.

_I wonder how far Doctor Chakwas will let me push this._ His mind went back to her standing in the doorway with a smile as he sat and looked at his legs. Since he knew she was up already, he thought, _Couldn't hurt to find out right? I'll go over there and show off my fancy new ability to walk and she'll let me right out. _He snorted at his own thoughts but got up and made for the door. He walked out into the hall and stopped when something felt… off.

"Hello?" he looked around but didn't see anything out of place. No wait; there _**was**_ something out of place, near the receptionist's vacant chair. He started to squint as he moved closer, trying to see just what was bothering him about it. When he got about five feet from the counter he abruptly stopped, straightened out, and started to laugh.

"ARGH! One of these days I'm going to get you Shep, I don't know how you keep doing that but I _will _get you." Kasumi got up out of the not-so-vacant receptionist's chair and walked around the counter to stop in front of him.

"I _want _to keep this until you tell me how your doing that but, here you go." She handed him a gift-wrapped box with a bow stuck to the top that he took with a raised eyebrow.

"Odd way to give someone a gun Kasumi." He commented as he took in the shape of the box and it's weight. It seemed too heavy to be a Carnifex, and was too tall for it as well.

"Who said it was only a gun? Besides I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, well go on open it!" her exasperated tone made him chuckle but he started to unwrap the box anyway. He flung the lid off and picked up a card that was lying on the very top of a pile. He set the box down on the counter next to him and started to read.

_Dear Commander Shepard, _

_ You saved my boy Thomas during the reaper invasion here on earth, and I thank you with all of my heart, please get well soon!_

He set the card down and looked at the stack of cards just like it then back to Kasumi with astonishment.

"Are they all like this?" Ha asked with a quiet voice.

"Pretty much." She confirmed. "Some are from civilians like that one, but most are from soldiers. There's one in there from a Krogan believe it or not." Kasumi smiled as Shepard picked up the next one and read it too.

_There are no words for what you've done for us, and if all I can give back is my hope for your speedy recovery then that's what I'll give. We owe you everything, thank you Commander Shepard._

"Kasumi I… I'm not sure what to say." He managed at last.

"You haven't even seen the best part Shep, look on the bottom." He did as instructed and pulled out a brand new Paladin pistol, complete with four thermal magazines and all the modifications.

"How did you get this?" He asked incredulously, his eyes still wandering over the magnificent weapon.

"A gentlemen never asks and a lady never tells." She teased as she leaned back against the counter.

"Think of it as an early wedding gift." She suggested. "Besides, I thought you'd be happier that I got something better than some POS predator."

"Better? Kasumi this is a cutting edge top of the line Paladin! Better doesn't even begin to describe this pistol."

"You don't have to tell _me_ what it is Shep, I bought the damn thing."

"You… You bought it?" Shepard thought his eyes might pop out of his head if she kept surprising him like this.

"As opposed to…stealing it? Believe me I was tempted to, but in the end it wasn't enough of a challenge." She moved her shoulders in a shrug as she finished. Shepard just shook his head in amazement as he put the pistol back in its box, then placed the cards he'd read back on the top and closed the lid.

"Kasumi… thank you, really, this means more to me than you can imagine."

"I just wanted to find something to show you just how much people care about you. _**You**_ saved them Shepard, they won't forget that." Kasumi bowed her head slightly and then started for the elevators. He watched her until she cloaked and turned the corner, hiding her from view.

* * *

Tali couldn't decide on whether she should be angry, or laughing. It was uncanny how often one felt that way when speaking with Joker. She shook her head and tried to get him back on task.

"Come on Joker, this is serious! I need to know if the Normandy's drive core is working properly!"

"Ok ok! Jeez you'd think you would have more faith in me after all we've been through Tali." He put his hands up in an effort to forestall her imminent wrath.

"And yes the core is working perfectly."

"Has anyone ever told you how frustrating you can be?" She asked it in a friendly tone, but saw Joker visibly slump further into his chair as she finished.

"Yea… she did." Joker cut the link before Tali could apologize. Mentally kicking herself for saying something like that to him, she walked back into the area the Normandy crew had been using as a camp until Shepard was fully healed.

_At least this time I got a full report out of him, The Normandy is back up to where she was before the blast from the crucible hit her._

"Hey Sparks! You want in?" Vega was sitting at a table with Grunt and Zaeed playing some kind of card game that Tali didn't recognize. It had red and blue money chips and a small pot stuffed with money in the middle.

"No thank you Vega, you go ahead."

"Suit yourself, Ha! Get it? Ah never mind."

"Shut up and play the guddam game." Zaeed muttered.

"Hmph." was all Grunt said as Tali moved on. She moved through camp seeing all the familiar faces, most laughing or smiling; a few, like Samara, were just quietly meditating or thinking about the past and future. She saw Wrex over by a dirty and broken down tank that had yet to be removed by the construction crews now roaming the city. They had been making a surprising amount of progress of late, and the city was already starting to look a little better. As she moved closer she saw Wrex was talking with Jack and Garrus and a handful of marines, probably telling stories about his adventures with Shepard.

"But as we turned to walk away, one of the dead asari commandos started to get up." Wrex's Baritone voice could easily be heard over the background noise of the camp.

"Wow, but I thought you shot her." One of the marines asked with an eagerness one only sees in raw recruits.

"Of course I shot her, weren't you listening? Anyway, she got up and started talking, only it wasn't her talking, it was the Rachni Queen talking _through her_." Some of the marines shifted uncomfortably as they saw a Rachni drone walk by aiding a construction crew near the main road.

"You actually spoke to the Rachni queen?" the marine who asked still hadn't taken his eyes off the nearby Rachni drone.

"Well, _**I **_didn't but I was there while Shepard did. I have to say, I'm sort of glad he didn't listen to my warnings back then, the little guys are actually useful." Wrex finished with a lopsided smile, then saw Tali walking up and spoke again.

"And here comes the genius engineer! Good to see ya Tali." Wrex nodded to her as she stopped and added to the group in front of him.

"Good to see you as well Wrex, I didn't realize you were still grounded."

"Yea, Figured my time could be better spent here than on a spaceship not capable of going anywhere."

"What do you mean?" Tali asked hesitantly. "Your using the Flotilla ships for transport aren't you? Did something happen to them?" her voice got faster towards the end as she started to worry.

"What? No, no nothing like that. I meant the damn Mass Relays. The supposed "geniuses" in shield fleet are working on fixing them with pieces of the Citadel as their replacement parts. Even if they do it, it'll probably take um' a long time to actually make it work again."

"Have a little faith Wrex." Garrus chimed in, "the scientists with shield fleet are the best minds this galaxy has to offer. They'll get it done."

"They'd better, Earth is nice, but my men and I need to get back to Tuchanka. The Genophage got cured remember? Wrex chuckled and slapped Garrus on the back.

"Oh that's right, you're a father now aren't you Wrex? Well this ought to be interesting to say the least." Garrus' comment got a grin from Wrex before he struck back.

"I'm sure I didn't just hear you call my parenting into question Garrus."

"Oh of course not Wrex, everyone knows what a great mother you'll be." Wrex gave a loud guffaw and slapped him on the back again.

"Ok everybody, it's been good, but I've got to head out. I'm sure some idiot has started a fight between clans in the hour I've been gone. Tell Shepard I said to drop by Tuchanka when he gets a chance Tali, you can come too if you like." With that he headed off down the hill toward the Krogan camps.

"Well Tali, how's the Commander? Are we almost a go for lift off?" Garrus asked with mild enthusiasm.

I haven't gone to see him yet today but yes, if I had to guess we could probably leave within the week."

"Ah ha! So he _is_ trying to beat my time for fastest recovery! Well as always Shepard, your to slow for Garrus Vakarian!" Tali snorted in amusement and started to walk toward the hospital. Time to see just how much time was left until they could make their final preparations for leaving the planet.


	13. Negotiations

_**Thanks again for the reviews everybody, feedback is crucial, as you may well know.**_

_**You may have noticed my chapters are getting a little longer, but that of course means longer waiting times. I can't really help that but I'll still try and update as much as I can.**_

**_p.s. also, someone suggested I attempt to mix Quarian and Human weddings. Maybe making them take place at the same time, or perhaps just on the same day? Let me know what you all think. Thanks!_**

* * *

Negotiations

Shepard moved his arm around a bit in an attempt to keep it from falling asleep, but only succeeded in waking Tali up instead.

"Is it time to go already?" she asked sleepily.

"No Tali, I just need my arm back before it falls off."

"Too bad, its mine." She snuggled into his arm further as he tried to pull it back out from under her. Ignoring the invisible ants crawling along his arm as his circulation cut off, he pinched her bottom hard enough to get a squeal and pulled his arm out when she jumped.

"You bosh'tet!" she slapped his arm playfully. He smiled and put an arm _over_ her this time and pulled her close against him.

Tali had stopped by the night before and he had showed her the cards Kasumi had gathered. She had cried a little, but instantly lightened up when he showed her the Paladin. She had sat playing with it's modifications and exclaiming about it for a long time, but eventually they had gone to bed.

They were still lying on his bed in the hospital and had been for most of the night. But of course it was only just suit contact in a room as dirty as _this_ one likely was. He grinned as he thought about how close they were to getting back to the Normandy, but quickly banished the thought. Thinking about sex would only frustrate him further.

_Besides, when we finally do get back, the anticipation will make it that much better._ He continued smiling and stroking her arm in slow gentle motions. Tali cocked her head around and saw him grinning like an idiot.

"I believe the saying is, penny for your thoughts?"

"You don't wanna know." Tali sat up then flipped herself over his torso, straddling him.

"Oh really? Then I'm sure I could hazard a guess." Her sultry tone got his blood pumping as she started to massage his chest, moving her whole body with each push.

"Tali, might I ask why you're torturing me?"

"I suppose I _could_ stop…" but just as she said it her massage went a couple inches lower and he groaned in spite of himself. Giggling she stopped her massage and just laid down on top of him, her mask a few inches away from his face.

"You _**tease**_." He whispered.

"I still remember thinking I'd never get to do any of this with you, I'm taking advantage of any opportunity I can get." She stroked his hair and he closed his eyes, trying to relax from what she'd been doing.

"You can take advantage of me as often as you like." He murmured softly and was rewarded with another small giggle. They sat there looking at each other for a long while, but of course it couldn't last.

"Alright you two, Shepard's a patient not a pillow. You can do all that stuff when we're back on the Normandy." Doctor Chakwas stood in the doorway with a slight smile. Shepard sighed, but leaned closer to Tali and kissed the top of her visor before she started moving off of him. she slid off his bed and stretched, having been there almost all night and most likely not used to sleeping in that position for very long. As she stretched Shepard leaned over his bed and swatted her bottom, making her bounce on her toes a little as she gave another squeal.

"You, you…!" Tali stammered at him before she saw his grin, then with an explosive sigh she just laughed instead of chewing him out. Doctor Chakwas moved further into the room with a sympathetic look for Tali, then a frown for Shepard. He put his hands up in surrender but kept his grin, he didn't regret it. Tali had walked over to the other side of the room to grab another chair, having left one near Shepard's bed for the doctor.

"Now Shepard," she started as she took a seat next to him. "The scans show no more trauma to your legs is detectable, however. That doesn't mean it isn't there." The doctor looked over as Tali set her chair down next to the doctor's.

"So does this mean he's still confined here?" Tali asked, taking her seat.

"Yes and no. Shepard, I'm allowing you to return to the Normandy as soon as you are ready. _**But**_, you are confined to your cabin for another day at least." Shepard smirked and looked at Tali as he spoke.

"Confined to my cabin? Gee, whatever shall I do to pass the time?"

"No Commander, I'm afraid I must insist that you not be sexually active for the duration of your confinement. Needless to say, it's a strenuous activity and could cause damage to the thigh. I'm sorry Shepard." She sounded genuinely apologetic as she finished.

"No it's okay Doc, I can restrain myself a bit longer I'm sure." He said with a wink at Tali.

"See that you do, now can I assume you'll be leaving for the Normandy this morning?"

"You know me too well Doc, I plan on gathering the crew into the shuttle around noon."

"Then I need to let the medical staff know I'll be leaving, please excuse me." As she got up to leave Shepard stopped her.

"Are you sure you want to leave? I mean, I'm not entirely sure what I'll be doing before the mass relays are done being rebuilt, but eventually I'll be heading to Rannoch to stay." Tali leaned forward and grabbed his hand as he finished, giving it a squeeze.

"…Yes, I think I'll tag along anyhow Commander, Jeff is still aboard after all." Doctor Chakwas smiled then turned and left the room.

"And I suppose I should go tell the crew to start packing hmm?" Tali stood up and started to leave but shot over her shoulder, "Don't forget your present from Kasumi!" before she left the room, leaving it just a little darker than before.

* * *

Tali hummed to herself as she walked out of the hospital, keeping a leisurely pace as she made her way to the camp of the Normandy crew. She loved the way the morning sun crept up along the horizon, casting long shadows over the ruins of London.

She stopped occasionally to chat with alliance and other species as she did so. She even saw one of the Elcor "walking tanks" that she'd heard people talking excitedly about. It had been walking along one of the roads following one of the patrols that constantly walked the perimeter of the field base. The Elcor had had a red carpet, or maybe a blanket covering it's back that was lined with tan fringes. Sitting on top of that was a large cannon. The cannon had had two barrels, one over each shoulder, and was secured with belts and straps that circled around under their stomachs. She could almost see the Elcor tearing through the Reaper ranks, throwing husks aside and annihilating Brutes with a single shot.

Tali shook her head to clear her mind and continued toward the camp.

As she entered, she once again scanned around to see what everyone was doing.

Samara and Miranda were chatting quietly as they stood over a stove, apparently cooking breakfast on a old fashioned Human propane stove. Grunt was sitting at the one table the camp had cleaning his Claymore while Garrus watched. Looking left She saw Zaeed in a cot that was put up between two pieces of what had once been a leg to a Reaper. He was snoring loudly. Liara, she saw, was sitting in something she had come to learn was called a "beach chair" and seemed incredibly comfortable. Tali then made her over to the two women cooking and watched as they flipped some strip of something that smelled absolutely amazing.

"Hey there Tali, we were just making some breakfast for the gang. I trust you and the Commander slept well?" Miranda asked without a hint mockery.

"Yes, it was very relaxing actually." Tali knelt down and looked in a nearby container for her Dextro amino food tubes, but they weren't there. She looked for a minute longer, then began to worry when she still couldn't find them. Standing back up she turned to ask where her food paste had gone, when she saw Garrus on the far side of camp waving to her, With two food paste tubes in his talon like fingers.

Sighing, Tali started walking over to him, going over what he could possibly want in exchange, but giving up as she got closer and saw his small smile.

"So! How did your night with the Commander go?" Garrus asked as if he wasn't about to try and blackmail her.

"It was very quiet and relaxing if you must know. Now please give me my breakfast before I have to go looking for my shotgun."

"Whoa! Now where'd that come from? I was just making sure you were ok." He was giving his best impression of innocence and she laughed at how pathetic it was.

"While I'm touched by your selfless concern Garrus, I'd really like to eat now." Her sarcasm apparently unheard, Garrus responded.

"You should be thanking me, Grunt was determined to see if these were any good." He waggled the tubes before handing them over. Unscrewing the cap, she stuck the tube into the slot under her visor and started enjoying her meal. Waving at a chuckling Garrus she walked over to where Liara was sitting and pulled up another beach chair to sit and enjoy her paste.

"Hello Tali, feeling better now that you've spent some time with Shepard?" liara had her eyes closed as she asked but opened them when Tali didn't answer immediately. Seeing Tali nod emphatically she laughed and went back to sitting with her eyes closed.

Tali finished her tube and instantly replaced it with another. _I'm_ _hungrier than I thought. _she sucked down the last tube in a hurry and got up to address the crew, who by now were all sitting around and eating the breakfast Miranda and Samara had made. Even Zaeed had stumbled out of his cot and now sat munching contentedly.

"Okay everyone, I got some good news." Tali raised her arms to get everyone's attention, then continued when they all faced her.

"Shepard has been given leave from Doctor Chakwas to go back to the Normandy, and he has decided that sooner is better than later. All those who want to join us should be packed and ready to go by noon." As she finished she watched them look at each other then back to her.

"So, he doesn't want everyone to go with him?" Liara asked in a small voice.

"He told me that after the Relays are fixed, we will be going to Rannoch… for good. So anyone who wants to go their own way should say so now." She saw nods around the table as they processed what she had said.

"What about the Normandy? I'm sure Alliance brass will want her back." Miranda's raised eyebrow made it clear she _wasn't_ sure about that at all.

"I don't know Miranda, but I'm sure Shepard will give a ride to who ever wants one."

"How? Just because one relay is working doesn't mean the one connected to it is." Garrus pointed out with a frown.

"Well hopefully the Reaper upgrades to our engines will allow us to go much faster, but it will still take time, probably a lot of time. That's why Shepard is asking if anyone would rather just stay here."

Again the group just looked at each other, each forming their own course of action in their minds. Finally Grunt broke the silence.

"If he will allow it, I would go back to Tuchanka." Grunt looked at Tali but other voices started following him before she could answer.

"I would like to go back to Thessia."

"If he doesn't mind I'd like to check on my family."

"Oriana Still needs me…"

"Rannoch sounds bloody boring, heh, works for me. They do have beach front property there right?" That last from Zaeed made her laugh, but she spoke over the clamor.

"I don't know if we can take everybody where they want to go, but you should talk with Shepard about that when you see him." The group acknowledged her with a chorus of "ok" and "we'll see" as they returned to their meals. Zaeed looked down at his plate and spit off to the side in disgust

"Damn bacons already cold."


	14. Precious Freedoms

Precious Freedoms

Shepard stood on legs that felt just as good as before the Citadel exploded on him, and he marveled at how far he'd come in a two week span. _No matter how many times I see it in action, technology will always continue to astound me. _He bent over to reach his toes and stretch his calves and thighs, trying to keep them relaxed but still pulling as far as he could. Letting the burn fade, he stood back up and nodded in satisfaction. He looked at the clock and saw 11:00 A.M. _Finally, I can leave this forsaken hospital on my own two feet. And I if I never see it again it will be far too soon. _ He rolled his head to pop his neck with a flurry of cracks and let out a satisfied sigh before getting to work.

Tali should have the crew together and packed by now, and if he hurried he could answer any questions before they took off. He made short work of bagging up his small assortment of belongings, stuffing his two pairs of clothes inside a duffel bag then gently setting the box from Kasumi on the top so as not to be smashed. He ran his eyes over the room from the door one last time. After making sure he had all of his things, then left the nursery room and never looked back. Striding down the hallway with a powerful gait he stopped once to check Doctor Chakwas' office, but seeing it empty he continued on. He stabbed the button for the bottom floor with his right hand and held the duffel over his shoulder with his left. He set the duffel down at his feet as the elevator made its slow descent, whistling to the tune from the speakers while he waited. When it finally reached the bottom Shepard hefted the duffel and slung it back over his shoulder. He walked through the lobby still whistling the nameless tune from the elevator while people watched him with raised eyebrows._ Let them stare, I couldn't care less, I'm free!_

He strode through the big double doors which still hadn't had the glass replaced, and stopped a few feet from the door; closing his eyes as the sunshine lit up his face with warmth. Soaking it all in he breathed deeply. His mind conjured up images of barbecuing at one of the big navy get-togethers his mom had used to take him to as a kid. The ash in the air was still there, but not quite as thick as it had been during the battle. Shepard wanted to savor all the things that reminded him he was on a planet, as he was likely to spend a _very _long time in space.

Pushing his thoughts aside he got moving again, following the path Tali had described that supposedly led to camp. Weaving between tents and groups of soldiers who shouted their greetings, Shepard acknowledged them with a wave but kept moving. He slowed to a stop as he came out of the labyrinth of tents and came upon a interesting sight.

There, between what he assumed was a leg to a Reaper and another wall of tents, was Grunt and Jack. They seemed to be slowly circling each other as the rest of the crew looked on with interest, effectively boxing them in. Jack was the first to move, as she flung a warp in Grunt's direction, it looked relatively weak by Jack's standards, and could still pack a punch if it hit. But Grunt dodged with a roll and came up sprinting with his shoulder down, ready to throw Jack like a rag doll. But jack just laughed with glee as she sidestepped him like a Matador would a charging bull. Grunt skidded to a halt but was quickly moving again, eager to hit something, anything, so long as it was alive. Jack brought up her barrier and charged right back at him, her fist alight with a blue glow as she gathered her strength. Seeing his opponent charging as well, Grunt roared his challenge and sped up his headlong rush. Just before they smashed into each other Jack dropped and sent a small shockwave under Grunt's feet that sent him tumbling down in a heap of muscles and anger. But as quick as Grunt was to regain his thoughts and try getting up, Jack was faster; as she sprinted over to him she placed her foot on his chest with a triumphant yell. Panting with their exertions, Jack tried helping Grunt up but he waved her off.

"Your good, small human. But if this was real, I'd have had a gun, and you would be dead."

"Maybe you forgot, but _**I**_ have a gun too." Jack Smirked and walked over to Garrus, who was handing money to Miranda and Liara.

"You know, I usually don't bet at all Garrus, but that outcome was obvious from the start. Grunt was at an extreme disadvantage without his gun." Liara commented as she took her winnings and waited for his reply.

"I think your underestimating Grunt Liara, if he had even a single chance to actually come to grips with her, he would have won."

"Yeah, I agree with Scars, if Jack had screwed up her biotics then Grunt had it." Zaeed nodded as he agreed with James before he answered.

"Except you were counting on her biotics failing pup, which if I'm not mistaken, has _never _happened. Where's my money Garrus? Don't be holding out on me now." Garrus growled his disappointment and dolled out more credits.

Shepard walked down to the gathered spectators and saw Tali sitting in a chair next to Samara, who for once was not meditating but watching with a small smile as the crew talked.

"Ah, Hello Shepard. I was wondering when you would arrive." Samara's voice had gotten the crew's attention and they all turned to see Shepard strolling towards them with his mouth turned up at one corner in a smirk.

"Grunt, you got sloppy there, did you forget you had _this_," Shepard pointed toward his head as he spoke. "As well as all that muscle? And remember to use your environment next time; I saw a perfectly good table that you could throw." Shepard's critique brought a smile to Grunt's face, showing his teeth.

"Of course battle master,"

"What, nothing on my form?" Jack asked with a laugh.

"Sorry Jack, I'm not a biotic. Besides, I was busy watching… someone else's form." The group laughed as Shepard looked at Tali lounging on a fold-up chair, her hands stretched out above her head and her legs crossed. She was apparently sleeping.

Shepard quietly sat down beside her, dropping his duffel as the crew drifted apart, seeking a new entertainment.

"Tali, you up gorgeous?" Shepard leaned over, looking for her luminous eyes to show up through her purplish mask.

"Come on cutie, I know you hear me." Her eyes shot open as he reached down toward her sides and started tickling her abdomen.

"Ah! Shepard stop! Ooo! Shep- ah ha!" Tali squealed as he continued tickling her, battling her attempts to grab his arms. He finally stopped and she sat up with her arms wrapped around her belly, as if to show she was prepared this time.

"You are a complete bosh'tet." She said it with half lidded eyes and a sarcastic tone.

"So I've been told. You ready to go beautiful?" he looked into her mask and watched her eyes as she answered.

"Of course, I've been looking forward to this for too long not to be." Her gaze drifted downward but shot back up and locked onto his as she finished. She gave another delighted squeal as he laughed and put an arm under her legs and back then scooped her up off her chair in one quick motion.

"This is a dangerous area Miss vas Normandy, perhaps it would be best if I escorted you to your things." Shepard's impression at being a servant made her snort, but she pointed to one of the tents and he started to carry her over.

"You know, I could get used to this." Tali said playfully.

"Could you? Well perhaps we should do it more often." He set her down at the foot of the tent and she slid her arms over his as she backed into her tent. With a sudden pull Tali yanked him in after her and he landed face first on top of her on the blow-up mattress.

"Oh hell, I'm sorry Tali I-"

"Sssshhh. Believe me, I'm _more_ than ok with this." Tali whispered softly to him. she began moving her hands along his spine in such a way he shivered, but she just kept slowly working her hands down his back.

"Tali, this really isn't the best time." He whispered back to her while trying desperately to keep himself In check before he snapped.

"Shepard, just because I can't get out of this suit doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself." Tali's voice was soft but the words hit him hard.

"No, no Tali, as long as your in there, I will wait too, because this is all for you, all of it. Everything I've done, it's been for you." He lifted himself up and off of her with sheer willpower. Tali just laid there for a few more seconds.

"R-Really?" her voice was so quiet he almost hadn't heard her.

"Of course Tali! I love you, and I'll do whatever I have to do to make you happy. My life, my existence, is for _**you. **_I am yours." He finished simply. Tali just stared at him, her eyes unblinking.

"Tali, I want this just as much as you do, believe me. But I promise I'll make it up to you." Tali got up quietly, and then leaped into him with a hug so strong he thought he might have bruises.

"Promise me you'll never leave." She clung to him, not making a sound as he held her.

"Never." Came his fierce whisper.

_I will never leave, and anything that gets between us, I'll destroy._

"Come on love_, _let's go back out before someone gets to curious and peeks in, shall we?"

"As you command, my captain." He chuckled as he led her out, one arm looped through his, and the other on her bag of belongings. Still smiling as they moved back toward his duffel bag, he saw the crew was sitting in a rough circle, just talking. Most were sitting on rocks or rubble, as there was only so much room on the bench at the table. Even Kasumi was there, having pulled a chair over, she sat sipping on a juice box.

_Well that looks like everyone, might as well get this out of the way then._

Shepard motioned for Tali to drop her bag near his as he changed direction, heading for the crew. Their heads swiveled to him and the talking died down as they stopped what they were doing.

"Okay everyone, I'm sure you all have questions, but I feel like I should explain what I'll be doing first." He paused to see if anyone was going to interrupt, but when they didn't he continued.

"Since the Mass Relays are down, we will be relying entirely on Reaper tech to get us out of this system. Now, that could take a _very _long time to reach every single person's destination, so if anyone would like to stay here instead, I fully understand. But keep in mind, they could bring the network back up faster than we can get to your particular stop." Shepard saw a few confused looks and decided to elaborate.

"I have talked to Admiral Hackett, and it appears that the engineers up there working on the Relay are saying it should be fairly easy to produce more material like what the Relays are made of. Now I don't know the specifics, and I doubt I would understand even if someone told me, but they believe they could fix the Relays to the major Planets in about one Solar year." He let them process this new information, seeing a few nod their heads at his words. Jack was the first to speak.

"Well I think I'll stay here Commander, some of my kids are still kickin' and I think the Alliance still has need of my… teaching abilities." She smirked.

"I'll stay too Commander, I'm a brand new N7 member, wouldn't be right to just run out on that." James sat back down as he finished.

"Will there be fighting where your going battle master?" Grunt's question provoked a smile, but he answered in a serious tone.

"I hope not Grunt. I've had my fill of fighting and I'd like to be done with it."

"Then I will stay here with my Clan battle master, Urdnot still has need of me. It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve under you Shepard." Grunt slapped his fist to his heart in a salute before grabbing his gear and moving off toward the Krogan camps. Shepard watched him go with a sad smile, then turned his attention back to the group in front of him.

"Anyone else want to stay? It'll be a long trip where I'm going."

"The code does not allow me to stay idle for long Shepard, and I need to go back to Asari space. But I will tell you truthfully that my time spent traveling with you has been some of the best I have ever experienced. Not only that, but you saved my daughter Falere. If you ever have need of me, I will come for you Shepard." Samara's use of the same phrase she'd used aboard the Normandy made Shepard bow deeply. She returned the gesture and walked off towards one of the tents to give the rest of the team some privacy.

"I'm not really sure Shep." Kasumi was still watching the direction Samara had left in when she spoke up.

"Yeah, not much call for thievery aboard a ship right?" Shepard's grin quickly faded when he saw Kasumi wasn't smiling. _Why is she staring at Tali? _His mind drawing a blank as his eyes went back and forth between her and Tali.

_Oh. Oh shit. _He knew what the problem was now; She didn't want to leave what amounted to her best friend in the whole galaxy.

"Maybe… maybe we should talk." Tali walked off out of earshot with Kasumi in tow. Even as they stopped Shepard could see the conversation quickly becoming more animated.

"If it's alright Shepard, I was hoping I could tag along." Zaeed's voice drew his attention to the life long mercenary.

"Of course Zaeed, though you might find it exceedingly boring compared to your usual life style."

"You know something, Shepard? I've been fighting for as long as I can remember, I've gotten the crap kicked outta me so many times that I've lost track, but it's getting _old_." For the first time since Shepard had met him, Zaeed looked… Tired. The lines of his face were haggard looking and his hair was less kempt than he usually had it.

"Some days I just sit back and think about owning a house on the beach, maybe having a drink in my lawn chair on the porch." His good eye twinkled as his mind played the video in his head. "Hell, maybe I'll find me a nice Quarian girl like you did eh?" Shepard slapped him on the back with a smile.

"We'll see if we can't get you your house Zaeed, no promises on that last one though." The now ex-merc just nodded as Shepard walked back to stand before what was left of his group.

"What about you Liara? Can the Shadow Broker ever go back to living a normal life?" Liara was sitting on the bench with her head back against the table behind her, just looking straight up at the noonday sky. She snorted in response to his sarcasm but lowered her head to look him in the eyes.

"I… think I will wait here Shepard, I need to help Thessia, and that is much too far out of your way. My people need every able-bodied person available if we are to rebuild what was lost. I'm sorry Shepard." Her eyes lowered as she said the last, but Shepard walked over and grabbed her shoulders, making her look him in the eye again.

"Don't be sorry Liara, That is a perfectly reasonable thing to want. I only asked because I want to give everyone the choice. I won't frown on anyone's decision to leave, this was optional from the start." His caring words brought a tight smile to her lips as he let go and returned to his place near the middle of the circle.

"It's always inspiring to see a master at work." Garrus' voice drifted across from where he'd been watching the whole scene unfold. He was leaning on the Reaper leg that made one wall to their camp and had a surprisingly neutral expression.

"Oh? And what might my critic say about all this?" Shepard spread his arms indicating the group before him.

"It's been quite a good speech so far Shepard, but you have failed to mention anywhere that I'm a better shot than you." Shepard instantly turned to face the group and raised his voice for all to hear.

"Hear me, hear me! Let all assembled here know that Garrus Vakarian is a better shot than the Great Commander Shepard!" Shepard made an exaggerated bow in Garrus' direction. As he straightened out he saw Garrus' expression was one of complete surprise, but he quickly regained his composure and added in, "Well at least you can admit It." before settling back into his leaning position.

"So Garrus, how about it?" The Turian looked around at the assembled group looking at each as he made up his mind. He eventually looked back at Shepard and spoke very casually.

"I'm a Spectre now you know." Shepard's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"What? When did that happen?"

"Yesterday. I was contacted by the remains of the Turian hierarchy, since the council is unaccounted for, they decided to make the proposal themselves." Garrus was glancing at the back of his hand as if inspecting something, but turned to face him as he finished.

"So, what does this mean exactly?" Shepard asked, now very curious.

"It means I can pick my own assignments since the council is gone. And now that I know my family is safe from Palaven, I would like to ask permission to join you on the Normandy." Shepard's grin split his face in two as he replied.

"Permission granted Spectre."

"I would like to ask permission as well Commander." Miranda spoke up from beside Liara on the bench.

"Not that I'm complaining, but might I ask the reason?" Shepard furrowed his forehead in confusion, but allowed her to answer.

"Alliance Brass wants me to aide you Commander, one might even say "Protect" but I don't believe that word applies here."

"What about Oriana? We'll be on the opposite side of the Galaxy Miranda, you sure you're ok with that?" Miranda stood up from the bench and nodded before continuing.

"Yes I believe so Commander, with my father not hounding us anymore she should have a real shot at a normal life."

"In that case, permission granted XO Miranda."

"XO?" She had a look of complete surprise as he replied.

"You've earned it Miranda, and I've come to trust you with my life."

"I'm honored Commander. Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, I need you to keep the logistics going for the Normandy, we'll be heading on a _very _long Journey." She nodded and went off to do as he asked.

Shepard dismissed everyone and they all grabbed their bags and started heading to the shuttle landing area, but he noticed Kasumi and Tali were still talking in a quiet and far less animated fashion. He walked over and the two cut their topic short as he approached.

"Shep, I think I'll be joining you after all." Kasumi stated curtly. He glanced at Tali then back to her silently asking,_ just what did you two talk about_? Tali picked up on his thoughts and chimed in.

"It was just girl talk Shepard, no need to worry."

"…Ok. Well, welcome aboard Kasumi, Always good to have you along." Kasumi left with her bags to follow the others to the landing area where the shuttle was about due to arrive. Looking back at Tali he once again extended his elbow for her to snake her arm through as they too followed the others.


	15. Turbulence

Turbulence

Tali stood a little apart from the group that waited for the shuttle to arrive, watching them make their goodbyes to all those who wouldn't be joining them on the Normandy. But mostly she watched Kasumi; the lithe thief moved amongst the crew making small talk and giving hugs to the people they had all come to consider family.

She had told Tali she had some concerns about joining her and Shepard, but even after Tali assured her she didn't have to go, she decided to join anyway.

_If you don't want to join, then why not stay? _It seemed like such an easy decision, and yet it was obvious that it weighed her down just trying to choose. Kasumi had become very close to Tali over the course of their journey with Shepard, and it pained Tali to see her this way. She started to slip her arm out of Shepard's but felt him constrict when she did.

"And just where might you be going?" his playful smile still played havoc with her senses, but she managed to speak anyway.

"I… need to speak with Kasumi."

"Again? Tali, is there some kind of problem here?" his smile evaporated, to be quickly replaced with a concerned frown.

"Maybe, I'm not entirely sure." She was looking at Kasumi, who was still mingling down below, when Shepard gently put a hand under her chin and brought her head around to face him.

"Tali please, if something is wrong I need to know; and you can tell me anything, you know that." Shepard's tone left no room for doubt at that last comment.

"I know Shepard, but I'm not entirely sure why she's acting like she is."

"Well maybe we can find out." Before Tali could stop him Shepard whistled loudly and got the whole crew to look at him, but pointed at Kasumi and made a come here movement by flexing his index and middle finger. Kasumi raised an eyebrow and put a hand on her hip at the gesture, making it clear she didn't like being called in that manner, but she made her way to them anyway.

"Is that how you call all the women in your life Shep?"

"Come sit down Kasumi, I think we should talk." Shepard's voice made her smile waver for a second before she cautiously sat down next to him and Tali.

"What's the problem?" Kasumi's voice was unsure but she stayed sitting as Shepard turned to face her fully.

"I was kind of hoping you could tell me. I caught some concern back there when we asked if you wanted to join us, If there's even a small hint of doubt in whether you should join us, now is the time to voice it." Shepard's eyes were locked onto Kasumi's, he looked like he was mentally willing her to voice a concern. Kasumi looked like she was about to say something flippant, but sighed instead and looked down as she spoke.

"I… I don't really know what I want Shep. Stealing was fun before but now… I'm not so sure, and I don't want to leave Tali, she's pretty much like a little sister to me." Tali snorted as she continued.

"But then again, what will I do if I go with you? For the first time in a long time, I have nowhere to go." Kasumi breathed deeply as if she had just given the longest speech of her life, but Shepard just looked at her, his eyes searching hers.

"This all depends on how much you want to be a thief Kasumi. I can't answer you until you answer that for yourself. But in the meantime, I won't bring someone who isn't completely sure they want to go." Kasumi looked down at her hands as he finished, turning them over and inspecting them as if the answer was hidden there somewhere.

"Although," Shepard looked down as if deep in thought, "I don't know if you heard Kasumi, but Garrus is a Spectre now. When the Relay's get repaired I'm sure between the two of us, we could think of some interesting heists for you." Shepard looked at her as her head came up.

"Like what?"

"Well, for instance I'm sure we could commission a job for you like say… The Galaxy's rarest Brandy? Or perhaps, one of those tablets we saw at Hock's vault?" Shepard was looking away from Tali as he said it with a wink.

"Tablets? What Tablets?" Tali asked from over his shoulder.

"Hmm, maybe. How big of a commission?" Kasumi's smile was coming back, slowly but surely.

"I imagine it'd depend on the heist wouldn't it? And if you managed to grab some money or any other item you come across, Garrus and me certainly won't be checking your pockets."

"You really do say the nicest things," Kasumi had her smile back completely now. "I'm in." Tali leaped over Shepard and gave Kasumi a hug that sent them both sprawling to the ground.

"Yes! I finally get to have a big sister!" Tali's laughter echoed Kasumi's as they rolled around. After a few more minutes of wrestling they sat up and dusted each other off, readjusting clothes and picking debris off the other. Tali looked around for Shepard and found him still sitting as he had been, watching her with a loving smile as the sun was descending further into afternoon behind him.

"I'll just leave you two alone yes?" Kasumi scrunched her face in imitation of a kiss at Tali before she stood up to go and mingle with everyone again. As Tali got up to go sit with John again she- _wait, did I just call him John? _She cocked her head at her own thoughts but smiled broadly. _Why __**not**__ call him John? I'm sure he wouldn't mind._ She decided to test it as she stopped to retake her spot next to him. He had started watching the crowd below as she approached.

"Do you think she'll be okay John?" Tali looked for his reaction from the corner of her mask and was rewarded by seeing him sit up straighter and turn slowly turn his head to face her. With a questioning look but a growing smile he looped an arm around her back and pulled her closer to him.

"Yes, I think we'll all be just fine."

"mmhmm." Tali purred as she felt the muscles in his arm curled around her. They sat like that for a while before Shepard nudged her, thinking she was asleep.

"The shuttles here gorgeous." Tali just groaned as she started to hear the engines slowing the shuttles descent.

"But I just got comfy." She mumbled into his shoulder. She grabbed hold of his arm and neck, as he had apparently decided to carry her. Shifting her weight a little, she snuggled her visor into his chest as he moved toward the now landed shuttle. They had left their bags down by the gathered group watching the shuttle land, so Tali reluctantly decided to drop out of his arms to grab her things. Shepard stooped down to grab his duffel but grabbed her bag as well, slinging his over his shoulder and holding hers at his side. She appreciated the gesture, but was now left with nothing to fiddle with as they waited for the shuttle doors to open. A few seconds after the shuttle engines stopped, the doors popped open to show Cortez as he reached out to grab people's bags.

"Hey there Commander, heard you needed a lift back to the ship."

"Sure do Steve, what took you so long?" Cortez apparently didn't catch his joke and replied.

"Hackett's been having shuttle crews work around the clock to evacuate the civilians form the Citadel." He hefted Kasumi's bag and gently put it in a rack behind the seats.

"Still? I didn't think there were _that_ many survivors."

"Oh yeah, there's a ton of um'. Apparently damn near everyone on that particular arm managed to get to the hospital where the militia had holed up."

Shepard whistled and put Tali's bag behind a seat near the window.

"How did the Militia withstand the Reapers?" Tali asked as she stood there with nothing to do.

"By all reports there weren't very many there to begin with, just Husks and a few other variants. Basically enough to clear out most of the civilians, but not enough to take down a well fortified militia." Cortez rubbed his hands together as he put the last bag away, then stepped off the transport.

"Hey there Cortez, how'd you fix that shuttle up so quick?" Cortez opened his mouth to answer Kasumi but Tali spoke first.

"From where we were it looked like one of the aft stabilizers took a hit, if you landed well enough it wouldn't be too hard to wire in one of the booster replacements stashed in the repair kit. You just remove the outside panel and the damaged equipment, then add in the booster kit in with the soldering gun making sure the thruster isn't… what?" Shepard was staring at her with a deliberately blank stare.

"I love it when you talk dirty." Tali slapped his shoulder and he let his grin shine through.

After a few minutes of hugging and goodbyes, the team going with the Normandy finally shuffled into the shuttle to strap in. The engines roared to life but Cortez didn't shut the hatch as everyone waved goodbye from the ground. As they took off and the group outside got smaller, she smiled as the hatch finally closed, shutting them off from view. Somehow, she knew this wouldn't be the last time she saw them.

* * *

Shepard sighed and rested his head back against the headrest. He was finally almost back on the Normandy. That thought alone was enough to comfort him as they made their way into the sky. He looked over at Tali, who was staring out of the window he'd made sure she had. The sky was slowly turning a deep red as the sun began to fall under the horizon, and she seemed fascinated with it. She looked like a little kid as she leaned half out of her seat and pressed her visor against the glass. He laughed a little and reached over to grab her hand, tangling his five fingers in her three.

Tali didn't look away from the window, but squeezed his hand as she continued to stare.

Shepard's contented smile slowly slid from his face as he felt a bump run through the cabin, then another. Releasing her hand he looked around the cabin, The six passengers all looked at each other, confusion clear on their faces. They all looked up as Cortez's voice came over the speakers.

"Hold on folks, it's about to get bumpy!"

Sure enough, a few seconds later the whole shuttle began bucking and throwing them around in their harnesses.

"What's the deal Cortez? Exit shouldn't be this choppy!" Shepard's voice stuttered in time with the bumps as he spoke.

"Sorry Commander, we have a malfunction on the aft starboard stabilizer, I'm working to compensate."

"You mean the one supposedly fixed?" Shepard couldn't help but laugh as they continued to be jerked to and fro. Zaeed held both his shoulder straps and let out a whoop of excitement.

"WHOO! Been to long since I had me a roller coaster ride!"

Shepard ignored him as Cortez answered.

"Yes Commander, my babies not used to gravity yet, something must've came loose in re-entry!" He didn't sound particularly worried, so Shepard decided Zaeed had the right idea. He looked at Tali and saw she had a death grip on the chair arm and her eyes were wide as she stared straight ahead. He had a cruel smile as he grabbed her hand and lifted it into the air with his, letting out a yell like Zaeeds. She yelled as he grabbed her and her head whipped toward him to make sure who or what had grabbed her wasn't a danger. Seeing his grin she relaxed a little and laughed as he yelled again, this time with Garrus joining in with a smile as wide as his plates would allow.

Almost as abruptly as it had come the bucking stopped, letting everyone relax and come down off the roller coaster high of near death. Shepard breathed heavily and laughed as he spoke into the cabin communicator.

"Cortez, from now on, Tali is double checking all your repairs." Tali squirmed a little at the compliment as Cortez replied.

"If you think that's best, but it sounded like you guys had fun back there."

"Cheeky bastard." Zaeed was back to his usual grumpy self, but he still had a small smile.

"And now I have even more duties. Wonderful." Tali's sarcasm got a rise out of Shepard.

"Now Tali, you know I'd never _saddle _you with anything you didn't want."

"Oh… hmm." Tali's eyes narrowed behind her mask in what he imagined was an incredibly delicious smile.

"Please don't do this while I'm stuck in here with you." Garrus shook his head and pinched his nose in feigned disgust.

"Yea you've got company here Shepard, keep it in your guddam pants."

"Your all just jealous." Kasumi smiled and winked at Tali who nodded her thanks across the row of chairs. Garrus' snort spoke volumes about his opinion of that.

"Almost at the dock, E.T.A. 10 minutes." Shepard started to nod but caught himself. _What dock?_

"Cortez what do you mean, "dock"? All the space docks around Earth are gone."

"Right, but the Citadel is being used as an improvised dry-dock until something more permanent can be installed."

"Ah." Shepard sat back and got comfortable as the shuttle made it's seemingly slow way toward an ever-growing Citadel. The remainder of the trip was quiet, everyone lost in thought and memories, Shepard of course being the exception. He just gazed at Tali's back as she stared out the window. Resisting the urge for his eyes to go lower was maddening, and admittedly his resolve broke a few times. Shepard felt eyes on him and looked up to see Garrus grinning like a baffoon as he watched Shepard stare at Tali's backside. Shepard shrugged with a small smile as if to say, "Can you blame me?" and Garrus choked with laughter as they finally landed at the dock.

"Just what is so funny?" Tali asked as both Shepard and Garrus doubled over laughing.

"You don't wanna know." Miranda answered with exaggerated exhaustion as she unbuckled her harness and got up. Kasumi just giggled as the laughter finally died down and they exited the craft. But all thoughts of laughter were lost when they collectively stopped and stared at what lay in the bay next to them.

The Normandy was in fairly good condition considering the battle that had ensued not a month ago. But there were areas with holes and small scorch marks all along the hull, which was covered in Rachni workers. They busily scuttled along the hull replacing lost armor and crawling through the ducts that most engineers hated having to use.

Tali was the first one to come out of the stupor, as her head snapped to a particular worker who was apparently doing something wrong with a replacement piece.

"Hey, _**hey! **_You there! You can't put that in that way!" The drone just gave a puzzled lift of it's head as she ran along the gangway shouting at it. The rest of the group started following Tali as she continued yelling at the poor creature, who was clearly flustered by this biped waving it's arms and screeching.

"Commander Shepard?" A strangely familiar Asari was running along the bay's walkway toward him.

"Commander please tell your friend stop shouting! The Rachni don't have translators!"

_Oh shit._ Shepard dropped his bag and sprinted toward the connecting walkway that allowed access to the hull. He leaped the gap between the hull and the walkway looking at where Tali had gone. What he saw didn't really register at first, as his only concern was getting her away from it before it lashed out in fear. But as he got closer he saw the worker had backed up from the panel it had been working on, watching the Quarian place the new piece in snugly before closing the blackened and scorched panel. The worker looked at them with multiple eyes and what appeared to be a mild curiosity rather than fear. Chittering, the worker turned away, apparently deciding them to be boring as it scuttled away toward another part of the hull.

"Tali are you ok?" Shepard moved up to grab her arm but she turned with a worried look in her eyes.

"Ok? Yes I suppose so, ok as I can be with bugs crawling all over my ship." He raised an eyebrow at her, but his expression wasn't serious.

"Your ship?"

"Let's face it Shepard, without me, the only person who could fix this thing's monstrous drive core would be Garrus, and _then _where would you be?" She placed a fist on her hip as she finished, but Shepard was interrupted before he could speak.

"We would be flying comfortably having defeated the Reapers without a moments hesitation due to my masterful engineering skills." Garrus strode up behind them with Shepard's duffel bag in one hand and Tali's in the other.

"I'm kidding of course Shepard, we would be dead." Looking at Shepard he added, "Again. Anyway, when we saw you guys weren't in danger, the rest of the crew went to the airlock, and that Asari… I keep thinking we've seen her before Shepard." Shepard ignored Garrus' jab and nodded, that lady had seemed familiar.

"Well let's go find out who she is hmm?"


	16. No Place Like Home

_I feel i should state that i have been threatened with dextro paste if i discontinue this story. therefore, you should be seeing a lot more chapters. Enjoy!_

* * *

No Place Like Home

Shepard stopped after he moved through the decontamination chamber, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply. Catching the faint aroma of new electronics and leather upholstery, the latter emanating from Joker's chair just around the corner from the airlock. Opening his eyes he slowly started forward again, running a hand along the walls as he moved. The rest of the crew had moved on already as he had savored his return, so he decided to have a chat with Joker while he was on this side of the ship. He lazily rounded the corner to his left and saw his pilot had headphones on, apparently making like he was on invisible drums. Shepard walked up behind him and leaned on the back of his chair with an elbow. Joker jumped as he saw who had disturbed him and removed his headphones to hang around his neck.

"Hey Commander! Damn is it good to have you back!" Joker's smile seemed genuine; Shepard wondered how long he would feel that way once he told him about his choices on the Citadel. When Shepard didn't answer him Joker's smile slipped a little.

"Yea I know, I lost EDI but it won't effect my performance Commander. I really don't feel like a pep talk right now." Joker had turned back to his console as he spoke, but Shepard just stood there, gathering his thoughts.

"Actually Joker, I've been meaning to talk to you. Yes it is about EDI, but no, it's not a pep talk." Joker had a concerned look as he turned back around to face him, already not liking where this conversation was going.

"Uh, ok?"

"Joker, when the Crucible docked, I was given three choices. One choice was to control the Reapers, sacrificing myself in the process. Another was to again sacrifice myself to allow all people, organics and synthetics to be; I guess you could say, "melded," into a single people." Joker had a look of amused confusion as Shepard continued.

"And the last option, was to destroy all Reapers… but also all synthetics." Joker's slight smile was gone instantly, replaced by an almost completely blank look.

"An option which I decided was best for all of the galaxy. I'm sorry Joker."

"What about what's best for me?" Joker practically screamed, throwing the headphones from around his neck into the wall. "What about what I need? She was perfect Commander, and she was mine! The only one who ever understood me and… and she's dead." Joker's voice was almost a whisper as he finished. Shepard had just stood there, taking the assault. _Somehow, I still feel like I deserve even worse. How many other lives have I destroyed with my actions that day?_ Joker compressed his lips to a thin line and closed his eyes, holding back tears. Then swiveled back to stare at the console in front of him.

"I know Joker, and I'm am truly sorry, if it means anything to you, I can have Tali take a look at the A.I. core? She might be able to do something about it." Joker's chair didn't swivel back around, and he didn't speak. Shepard just patted the chair and left the man to his grief. Walking by the galaxy map, he stopped to chat with specialist Traynor.

"Hey Commander! I was wondering when you'd stop by."

"I'm surprised your still here Traynor, I didn't think the Alliance would be keeping anyone aboard." Shepard tried to make his voice sound less depressed than it was as he leaned against the railings lining the map area as she replied.

"Well somehow I don't think it's the Alliances' word that's kept everyone aboard Commander." Traynor had a small smile as she spoke.

"Well Traynor, I need to speak with the entire crew, can you please open a ship wide channel?" She just nodded and hit a few buttons on her console before his omnitool beeped that he had the Channel open. He brought the device closer to his mouth as he began his announcement.

"Normandy crew, this is Commander Shepard. I have a proposal to make to all of you, please gather near the CIC within fifteen minutes. Shepard out." Traynor gave him a quizzical look but he ignored it and passed her as he went into the war room. Closing the doors behind him his whole body seemed to sag, Joker's anger had gotten to him._ what if he's right? what if i picked that option just to see Tali again, instead what was best for the galaxy?_ he'd been over these thoughts before, but seeing Joker like that had hurt. shaking the self doubt off as best he could he once again pulled up his omnitool, and punched in Tali's symbol from his contacts list.

"Yes John?" He couldn't help but let a smile break through his "commander" mask as she used his first name.

"Tali I need to speak with you regarding EDI."

"EDI? John, why are you asking me? I only know about the Geth systems, not hers."

"Can't you at least take a look? I know it probably won't work but…Joker is in pretty bad shape, and I cant say I blame him."

"I… yes I can take a look at the A.I. core. But first I need to check all of our systems in engineering. Those bugs out there are handy, but they aren't exactly grade A engineers."

"Thanks Tali, and I'll take your word for it. Be careful Love."

"Of course, and you'll be stuck in your cabin soon right?" Shepard had completely forgot about that stipulation from the Doctor, who was due to come up in a different shuttle. He sighed but nodded and Tali giggled as she talked.

"And then you won't be able to escape me, I'll have you _all to myself."_ Her sultry tone brought back the urges he thought he'd suppressed back in her tent on earth. Taking a calming breath he managed to answer her.

"Escape? You couldn't drag me away from you even if you had the Normandy tied to my waste."

"Well I'd better let you go, wouldn't want to keep the crew in suspense for your announcement hmm?"

"See you soon." He cut the link after giving her a smile, then opened the doors from the war room to re-enter the CIC area. Most of the crew had gathered already, but some were probably still waiting their turn for the elevator. _We really should get another one._

Shepard walked up to his usual spot at the top of the ramp to the galaxy map and stood against the rails, waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive. After a minute or two, the last group finally emerged form the elevator and went to stand amongst the rest of their mates who were lining both sides of the galaxy map. Waiting for the murmurs to die down, Shepard stood up straight and put his hands behind his back, the embodiment of command.

"Thank you all for coming. I gathered you all here because I have a proposal for you, one that may very well alter the course of your lives." He paused a moment, letting it sink it before he continued.

"This ship will be departing for the Quarian home world of Rannoch. This will be my ultimate destination, with possible stops on the way. And since the relays are non-functional, we will be using Reaper enhanced FTL. This could take a very long time to achieve, year's maybe. But that isn't the proposal I called you for. Each and every one of you now stands with a choice, you can stay aboard the Normandy, and travel with us, or you may head back to earth. If any of you wish to leave, there will be a shuttle coming within the hour that you may use for transport." Shepard finished and waited for any questions, seeing a hand raised he quickly nodded and let the person ask.

"What will the Normandy be doing at Rannoch?"

"That's still being worked out, but officially, this is now _**my**_ ship. It is no longer under Alliance jurisdiction, and I may do with it as I see fit. Call it a gift for saving the galaxy."

The crew chuckled a little at that as he continued.

"As to what we might be doing, mostly ferrying supplies, with the _occasional _high risk mission. Wouldn't want the pirates to think they were forgotten now do we?" he got a few smiles but saw another hand and pointed to it.

"This isn't a freighter Commander, we couldn't really do any real heavy lifting for the Quarians via ferrying supplies. So what would we be ferrying?"

"Very astute observation, no, this wouldn't be for the Quarians though I would if they asked. You see, I will be building a house on Rannoch, I intend to live there. So essentially, anyone who stayed would simply be helping me set up my retirement home."

He smiled to show he was playing around.

"So would we still get our salaries?" that from Hawthorne, who was near the back.

"Absolutely, I would pay you myself I had to," Shepard's reply was instantaneous.

"However, I feel I should point out the plus side to leaving as well. If you stayed, the alliance could very well have the relay network running at least semi smoothly again before we even got halfway to our destination. For all intents and purposes, you could beat us there. And if you stay you'll get a far more exciting career than babysitting the hero of the galaxy. And I assure you, it _will _be boring." He looked around and saw their expressions, some were obviously leaning toward leaving, and others were still torn.

"I'd like to stay, if it's alright Commander." Ken Donnelly stepped forward, followed quickly by Gabriella Daniels.

"We both would sir."

"Are you sure? You'll be stuck out there with us until they repair the relay, and who knows how long that could take." He gave them a questioning frown, but they both nodded emphatically.

"Very well, permission granted." After that, one by one the crew stepped forward with their decisions, some passing on their regrets, and some still wanting to join. Shepard saluted the first, making sure they knew he considered it an honor to have served with them, and shook hands as warmly as he could with the latter. After all was said and done, about half still wanted to follow him into the void. It was far more than he'd thought would stay, but still enough to keep the ship running smoothly without tiring everyone out. He decided to see the departing crew off, following them into the cargo hold as they awaited the shuttle. He mingled with them for a little while, offering thanks for their service along with hand shakes and hugs until they saw the shuttle ease it's way in from the vacuum of space. As he watched them shuffle into the cramped shuttle he felt a hand grab onto his and curl around his fingers. Without looking back he squeezed Tali's hand and waved at the shuttle as it closed the hatch and lifted off again.

After the shuttle disappeared from sight he turned to put an arm around her waist as they walked back to the elevator. They didn't speak as the doors slid closed and he tapped the symbol for the captain's quarters. Staring into her eyes, he didn't even notice the doors open behind him admitting them into his quarters. Standing in the elevator he slowly leaned his forehead against her visor, gazing into her stare with a loving smile. Tali started to gently push him backwards, never letting his head leave her visor. She backed him into the wall and pinned him there with her powerful legs.

"Tali, you know we aren't supposed to do this yet." His voice was rough and betrayed his thoughts easily.

"Oh? And just what is it that we're doing that isn't allowed?" her voice was playful as she put her arms against the wall on either side of his head. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but when he opened them he was far from calm. She squealed as he put his hands under her hips and picked her up, her legs sitting in the crook of each arm as she latched onto his neck. Looking up at her, he made his way blindly to the door of the cabin and slapped the wall until he found the button to open it, never taking his eyes off of her. Taking the stairs carefully, he made it down to the foot of the bed when she got free from his arms and landed, only to pull him past her and fling him to the bed. Lying sprawled on his back she pounced on him and once again found himself straddled by the most gorgeous girl he'd ever seen. She leaned over and put her face next to his before her hands went to the release clamps on her mask. Undoing them slowly, still gazing into his eyes. As the last clamp sounded he grabbed the visor and tossed it off the bed only to find her lips already seeking his. It was the last thing he remembered for a long while after that.


	17. Beginnings

Beginnings

Shepard awoke with a start, his mind trying in vain to make sense of what he was seeing. He lay there unmoving as the images slowly resolved into his cabin on the Normandy. His memory returning, he looked to his side and saw Tali snuggled under his arm. She had retrieved her mask after a furious bout of kisses and foreplay that lasted a good fifteen minutes at least, but had managed to regain command of herself and keep her suit on. _Much to my dismay_. He thought with a slightly frustrated half-smile. _A worse case of blue balls I've never seen in my life._

As he started to quietly and gently pull his arm out from around Tali, his omnitool gave him away with a beep as he got a call.

"Wha- what? What's going on?" Tali spoke in a way that said she had a plugged nose._ Too many foreign contaminants on me from yesterday, _He frowned as he thought about it more, _there's __**got **__to be a way to fix that completely._

"Shepard? Are you going to get that or are you just going to undress me with your eyes?" Tali laughed as he realized he was staring at her with a concentrated frown, and then jerked his eyes away to answer his omnitool.

"Shepard." He answered tersely. _Oh this had better be good._

"Shepard it's Garrus, did you forget we asked that Asari to meet with us yesterday? She's asking for permission to board."

"Uh, oh! Yes I do remember, I'm er… indisposed right now Garrus, maybe you could keep her talking while I get down there? Five minutes tops."

Shepard closed the link and started looking for a fresh pair of clothes. He quickly found everything but his pants and was running around the cabin with Tali just staring at him in quiet amusement. Until he noticed her shoulders shaking. He then rolled his eyes and walked over to her, reaching behind her mask for the various knobs then switched her speakers back on. He was bombarded with the sound of her laughing as she rolled over, revealing the pants she'd been sitting on. He snatched them from the bed and gave her a stern look, quickly shoving his legs into them as he hopped toward the door for his shoes. He must've been quite a sight, as Tali's laughter followed him until the door to the cabin closed behind him.

He looked at the ceiling and closed his eyes as he laughed out a heavy sigh. _Women_. The thought made him continue to chuckle as he continued toward the elevator to meet with this mysteriously familiar Asari. Tucking in his shirt as he waited for the elevator to reach the next deck, he double-checked to make sure nothing was out of place. Nodding to himself in satisfaction, the doors opened and he made his way to the Airlock to greet his new guest. Shepard continued on and arrived at the airlock entrance to find Garrus making small talk with the Asari woman.

She had white face paint over her azure features and a polite smile, wearing a form fitting dress that went down to her ankles. As he heard her talk he started to get an inkling of who she might be, but decided to let her speak first.

"Commander Shepard? I doubt you remember me, but I was the one who relayed the message to you from the Rachni queen. My name is Loesha." Shepard nodded as he reached out to shake her hand.

"Of course, It's a pleasure to meet you Loesha, can I assume you're here as a liaison for the Rachni?" She smiled as she acknowledged with a small bow.

"I am chief Ambassador of the Rachni, I'm here for the other races to address with questions."

"That's quite am improvement from courier, congratulations."

"Yes and thank you Commander, It's a difficult job keeping all the races abreast of the Rachni's whereabouts." She kept her polite smile the whole time but it slipped as Shepard frowned in thought before he spoke again.

" Loesha, I have a favor to ask of the queen, how might I contact her?" Garrus cocked his head quizzically at Shepard's question, but stayed silent.

"Of course Commander, at this proximity I can contact her directly, would you like me to have her speak to you now?" Shepard looked at Garrus with a raised eyebrow, but the Turian just shrugged.

"Yes, if you could I would be grateful."

"Very well Commander, wait a moment." Loesha's eyes rolled back into her head, showing all white, before she shivered and her voice spoke with someone else's thoughts.

"Shepard, we greet you." Her voice sounded off, as if the words she spoke didn't really translate into English very well.

"I am speaking to the queen of the Rachni?"

"Yes."

"First I would like to thank you for your assistance against the Reapers, but I also have a favor to ask." Loesha's body jerked slightly as the queen answered.

"We will do what we can for you Shepard, we owe you our very existence."

"I saw your drones helping to fix my ship, and it gave me an idea. If it's not too much to ask, could you install a decontamination chamber between the elevator door and the captains cabin door?" Garrus gave a loud guffaw as soon as he finished and shook his head before he started walking away toward the elevator. Loesha jerked again as she processed the request.

"We are assisting many ships with reconstruction, do you have a time this must be done within?"

"...Hopefully within a week?" Shepard hated asking for things like this, but he didn't think any of the other races could complete it in the time frame he had in mind. Miranda would have the supplies they needed for their long voyage in a day or so, but he would wait a few days extra if it gave him more time to look at Tali's gorgeous face.

"We could do this, is that all you would ask Shepard?" He sighed as he heard her answer.

"Yes and thank you, this means so much to me you can't even guess."

"It is our pleasure to assist you, Shepard." Loesha's eyes finally rolled back down as the queen left her mind.

"Are you ok?" Shepard reached out hesitantly as if to support her but the Asari put up a hand for him to stop.

"I am fine Commander, truly. It is not a painful or uncomfortable sensation, I am merely watching through her eyes, instead of my own."

"I understand, thanks again Loesha, and if you or the Rachni need our help, feel free to ask." Loesha simply bowed, then exited through the airlock, leaving him alone at the head of the ship.

Shepard looked toward the cockpit and Joker's chair, but decided against talking to him, at least not right then. _What could I say that I haven't already said? _Shepard hung his head, what would he say to himself if he lost Tali because of a choice **Joker **made? He slowly brought his head up as he thought about it. _I wouldn't listen to a damn word anybody said; I would find a way to bring her back. _Determined now, Shepard started walking toward the elevator, trying desperately to recall his knowledge on electro magnetic pulses as he walked. He vaguely remembered one of his instructors at his boot camp lecturing them on emps once, but he remembered only bits and pieces.

_Didn't he say something like: in theory, a removed car battery could be used again if it was disconnected and out of the car? Maybe EDI removed her power supply when she saw the Reapers dying from the beam? Or maybe she had sufficient shielding to allow her main core to survive the wave?_ With too many questions and not nearly enough knowledge at hand, he decided to call Tali. He stepped inside the elevator and only had to wait for a few seconds before she accepted his call.

"What is it John? I'm kind of busy right now." The view Shepard had from her omnitool was an odd one for sure, she looked like she had crawled through a tub of grease and soot, and was cramped in what appeared to be a maintenance tunnel.

"Is it odd for me to find you sexy if your covered in grease stains?" Shepard couldn't help but laugh as she gave an exaggerated sigh.

"Seriously Shepard, this isn't the time."

"Tali I called because I need some insight on something important, how soon can you be in the A.I. room?" Tali's eyes narrowed as he explained, but opened a little wider when she realized what he was talking about.

"EDI? Shepard I told you there's really not much I can do."

"I know, but I think there might have been a way for her to have survived."

"Not that I doubt you Shepard, but how would you know anything about A.I.'s or their ability to survive?"

"Please Tali this is important and I need your help, Ken and Gabby can take over for you for now." Tali sighed and looked down at her suit, shaking her head she answered,

"Ok, I'll be there soon." Before cutting the link.

Shepard had exited the elevator and was almost to doctor Chakwas office, his chin cupped by a fist and deep in thought. He entered the infirmary but passed right through it without hesitation, continuing on to the A.I. core and stopped before it. he was still standing there when he heard Tali come up the maintenance ladder behind him.

"Ok Shepard, what is this all about?" Tali wiped her gloves on her suit in a vain attempt to remove some grease as she stood up from the ladder.

"Tali I've been thinking, If EDI saw what the beam was doing to the Reapers before it hit the ship, it stands to reason she might've taken measures to protect herself, right?"

"…Maybe." Tali shifted her stance a little as she listened.

"So judging from the effects it caused on the Normandy and all the other electronics, the crucible was just a really overpowered pulse generator. Which means, if EDI managed to see it coming, she could've-"

"Disconnected herself from the ship? Shepard, she _**was**_ the ship." Tali interrupted.

"But that doesn't mean she couldn't isolate herself! Look, I remember back in boot camp the instructor told us that emps only work on things that are actively using power, am I right?"

"In a way, but sensitive electronics like computer chips, including EDI, are completely destroyed." Tali was getting into it now, leaning toward him and speaking quickly.

"_But only if they are drawing power to keep themselves on! _If she managed to cut off her power supply, EDI could very well be restored!" Shepard had an almost pleading tone as he finished. Tali looked at Shepard with a strange set to her eyes, but she slowly turned to stare at the core they were standing next to instead.

"This is about Joker isn't It." she asked quietly.

"...Yes. I kept thinking, if I lost you, I would never give up until I found a way to bring you back to me. So how could I do less for Joker? Especially since I pulled the trigger myself." Tali walked over to him but stopped less than a foot away, looking up at him with those big luminous eyes.

"You are a good man, John Shepard. The best a girl could ever ask for." She hugged him and he squeezed her back, rocking gently back and forth. He knew he would have a hell of a time getting the stains out of his clothes from this hug, but he wasnt about to complain. When she stepped back she had a determined set to her eyes as she looked back to the A.I. core.

"Ok you bosh'tet, prepare for a dismantling you won't soon forget!" Shepard smiled broadly as he watched her get her tools out of her various pouches and start working. Deciding to leave her to her work, he stepped out and began walking through the medbay. _I think it's about time I started making the rounds again, seems like forever since I did that. _Shepard made a hard right as he left the med bay; angling toward the forward batteries that he was sure Garrus had snuck off to.

As Shepard entered Garrus' usual hideout, the first thing he noticed was that his Turian friend had added a small cot to one side of the room, which was shaped like the letter "U". Garrus was swinging comfortably, watching a Rachni worker fiddle with a panel near the roof towards the opposite side of the room. Upon Shepard's entry Garrus had just craned his neck back to see who it was, then turned his attention back to the bug.

"Fancy new airlock huh Shepard?" Garrus chuckled.

"You bet. How did you know? You left before she even said she would do it."

"Lucky guess." Garrus closed his eyes but continued rocking his cot as he spoke.

"Besides, it was a fairly small request for saving their entire species. Twice."

Shepard sank down along one of the consoles to a sitting position before he answered.

"I still hate having to ask, but no one else has enough manpower to do it in the amount of time we have." Garrus opened one eye to look at him with a confused glance.

"Shepard, you're the one setting our departure times. What's the rush?"

"The rush is that I want to build that house Garrus. You are helping me with that by the way." Garrus snorted but didn't open his eyes.

"Oh really? I'm fairly sure you owe _**me **_one, not the other way around."

"A house or a favor?"

"Both." Shepard's old friend opened his eyes and looked at him with a smile.

"Look Shepard, I didn't get much sleep last night, so if it's alright with you I'd like to get some shut eye."

"Sure thing Garrus, see you tomorrow."

"No suicide missions without me ok? See you later Shepard."

Shepard walked out of the room feeling in an all around better mood, and moved on to talk with the next crewmember.


	18. To Dismantle A Soul

To Dismantle A Soul

Tali grunted as she lay on her back and reached up to remove a pair of heavy cables; her legs stuck out from underneath the A.I. core as she continued her work.

Setting the cables out of the way, careful not to damage them, she directed her attention to the area she was working her way toward. It was a small black box that had a multitude of similar cables plugged in from various directions. Those cables were her main objective, once she got those removed from the box, she could take it out and see just what the problem was. Moving deeper inside the core she reached for the next set of cables when a voice from outside made her jump.

"Hey there cutie. What cha' working on?" Kasumi was sitting against the wall opposite where Tali was working, just watching after having apparently snuck in without making a sound.

"Kasumi! Oh you scared me; hey can you move these cables to the side? Be careful though." Kasumi moved to carefully gather up the cables Tali had indicated as Tali spoke.

"To answer your question, I got an inspiring speech from Shepard, so here I am trying to fix EDI." Resuming her seat at the opposite wall Kasumi laughed.

"Yeah Shep is good at those, but do you think it's really possible? I mean, all the V.I. programs on the fleet are completely gone and the engineer's aren't even trying to restore them."

"Yes, but a V.I. isn't smart enough to do what EDI can, and we are hoping she managed to see what was coming and protect herself." Tali placed another group of cables down by her side, wiggling around to get a better view on the next set.

"But how could she protect herself when those ones couldn't?" Kasumi's voice sounded genuinely curious.

"Shepard thinks that the beam the crucible fired was like an Electro Magnetic Pulse, or emp, which only affects things that are actively drawing power or are touching a conductive surface like metal." Kasumi was nodding as she continued.

"In the event of an emp hitting a computer system, some things are fried instantly. Like the power cord if it's still in an outlet, but if it's disconnected from the wall and isolated from the rest of the metal case of the frame, then it _should _still be able to work." Kasumi's voice was hesitant as she briefly interrupted.

"And _**Shepard **_pointed this out? Never mind, you said that it had to be isolated from the frame right? Well how would EDI have managed that?" Tali nodded as Kasumi caught the real problem.

"That was my question as well. But if EDI managed to cut off her power supply _before_ the beam's wave struck the Normandy, then theoretically, you would only need to replace the power supply, since her main hub is comprised of materials that are conduction resistant. Assuming she managed that, she should just be sitting in this box right here, waiting for us to help her get back out." Kasumi stayed silent as she thought about it, trying to find a flaw in the logic escaped her, so she just shrugged.

"Well now I know to ask Shepard about any electrical problems. And what about you? Anything I can do to help?"

"Actually there is." Tali removed the last cable that was attached to the box, putting it next to the others, then started to ease EDI's box off it's perch and into her waiting arms.

"When I get this out, I'm going to need a power cable, an extension cord, and possibly another extension cord. Also, I need the nearest average wall socket made available, please hurry, this thing is heavy." Tali heard Kasumi run off to secure the items she suggested as she ever so carefully brought the box down to the floor with a small bang.

Looking at it, she located the primary power inlet so she didn't just give power to her optics or something. This would allow a basic from of EDI to run on low power, and prove without a doubt whether or not EDI had managed to survive. Giving the box a once over to insure there was no exterior damage, Tali sat back and waited for Kasumi to return with the necessary tools. She didn't have to wait long as Kasumi walked in not five minutes later with an arm load of extension cables and her other requested items.

"Their aren't many outlets on this ship are there? I only saw the one in my own room and one near engineering where I got all of these." She shifted the extension cables and let them drop in a ring on the floor next to her.

"That's fine Kasumi, if you would, please check Samara's old room for one as well, it's a bit closer." The thief nodded and left the small room again. Tali grabbed the power cable and was relieved to see the inlet on the box was the universal standard and would work with her power cord. The power cord itself was only about five feet long, but the extensions were about twenty feet each. _Good thing I asked for two._ She quickly attached the extension cord to the power cord, but left the latter unplugged from the core. The last thing she wanted was to turn on an A.I. by accident. Kasumi walked back through the door and started gathering the extension cords as she spoke.

"Yes the starboard observation deck had an outlet. I'll go get it there, call me when you want it plugged in." Trailing an orange extension line behind her Kasumi left once more.

Tali waited for about a minute before calling Kasumi, making sure all was in place.

"Yea everything is good on my side Tali, almost didn't have enough extension cord but it worked."

"Ok plug it in on your end, but be prepared for a slight power outage, I'm not entirely sure what will happen here."

"Roger that. Ok were ready over here!" Tali looked at the power cable in her hand then back to the box. _Moment of truth._ She told herself, before jamming the cable into the inlet.

Almost instantly the lights around her flickered and dimmed considerably, causing a low hum to sound as the amount of electricity being used was considerable.

A few seconds passed before the lights flicked back on to normal power, but everything stayed the same as before. Tali waited with apprehension as nothing continued to happen, but jumped when a voice behind her spoke with a computerized tone.

"Enhanced Defense Intelligence system online." Tali whirled around with her eyes wide as EDI's usual form was floating above her projector. A smile was growing on her lips as she looked at EDI, _you were right, you wonderful, wonderful man! _

"Good to have you back EDI, we'll have you running at maximum capacity again in no time." With that Tali disconnected the power cable and watched EDI's form flicker before dying away completely.

* * *

Shepard was sitting on a couch in Miranda's quarters; trying to make conversation, but not getting anywhere. Miranda sat on the opposite end of the couch with her legs crossed.

"So you really have no personal opinions on what we're doing?" Shepard tried again to break through her icy exterior.

"Well sure I do Shepard, but it's the same as what you already said. This trip should be pretty boring, but then, nothing ever really seems to stay that way around you."

"And you don't have a problem with it being boring? I find that hard to believe Miranda. I thought you were the type who always wanted a challenge?" He thought back to her bragging about the illusive man always giving her the most important projects, then thought about it for a second. _She __**has **__changed, that much is obvious, but has she changed enough not to lose her mind to boredom?_

"I'm not incredibly thrilled with how boring our trip should be, no. But that doesn't mean I wont perform my duty to the best of my ability. And right now, my duty is to keep you and this ship safe and in good shape." Shepard was about to answer her but stopped, seeing her features soften slightly.

"You helped me save Oriana twice, in addition to saving the galaxy. So if all you want from me is to help you build a house to retire in, I'm more than happy to help." Miranda flashed one of her rare smiles as she finished, and Shepard stood up to extend his hand toward her.

"I'd be honored if you would help Tali and I, but you have to promise to share a drink with us when it's completed. I intend to have Kasumi find the best of the best so we can have a _real_ toast." Shepard was shocked again as she gave a laugh.

"Of course I will Commander, you-" Miranda stopped mid-sentence as the lights in the small room suddenly dimmed considerably and made a low humming noise, but after a few seconds they came back on fully as if nothing had happened. He looked back down from the ceiling to exchange a worried glance with Miranda, but received a call from Tali on his omnitool before he could speak.

"Tali was that what I think it was?" Shepard's question made Miranda stand up and put a fist on her hip, she obviously wanted answers and looked upset.

"Yes it was, it worked Shepard! You were right! But before we do anything I'm going to need some replacement parts to get her going without sucking up the ships power every time I turn it on." Shepard wanted to shout with all the joy that was welling up in him right at that moment, and his stance and eager tone as he answered made Miranda look slightly less angry.

"Really? That's wonderful! Name the parts Tali, I'll make sure we get them." At the mention of part acquisition Miranda decided to join the conversation, pulling up her own omnitool.

"Just give me the list Tali, I should be able to bring them up with the rest of the equipment we are due to receive, given that they aren't _too_ rare of course."

"List sent, thanks Miranda, this will help immensely." Tali cut the link and Miranda turned to Shepard.

"So, mind telling me what I'm getting parts for?"

"Fixing EDI." Shepard left a stunned Miranda as he walked out of her office and walked back toward the A.I. core. As he walked closer to the infirmary door he saw an orange line trailing out and running along the floor towards the elevator and around the corner.

_Is that… No, it couldn't be._ _Do they even __**make **__extension cords anymore?_

Laughing, he walked through the door that had been kept open and moved through the infirmary. The door to the A.I. core was forced to stay open also, allowing him to see Tali sitting with her legs outstretched to either side of the box while she tinkered with something on it's side.

"Hey beautiful." Shepard moved around behind her and sat to rub her shoulders through the suit.

"Hmm." Tali stopped what she was doing and let her head hang as he worked the tension from her muscles.

"So you used extension cords huh? Leave it to my girl to get the job done with little to no resources." He chuckled a little as she fell back into him with a happy groan. She was too close to work her shoulders now, so he just put his arms around her.

"I can't believe this worked Shepard." Tali sounded incredibly comfortable as she looked at EDI's hideout, her head resting against his chest. He opened his mouth to speak but saw Kasumi walking in from the Infirmary and decided to wait.

"How did you manage to end up like this in under a minute? You sure work fast Shep."

"We aim to please." Shepard grinned down at Tali when he said it.

"So is there anything else you need Tali?" Kasumi took a look around the room as if to try and find something that needed doing herself.

"There isn't much else to do until Miranda gets the parts we need, and I'll bundle up the extension cords later."

"I'll take care of that, and shouldn't you be in your cabin Shep?" Kasumi smiled as she started gathering up the cords and moved out of the room. Tali lifted her arm and used her omnitool to disengage the lock keeping the door open.

"She's right you know, until Doctor Chakwas gets here your still technically under house arrest." He couldn't see her face but he could picture her with her eyes closed as she rested against him. _Actually, doctor Chakwas should've been here by now._

He frowned as the thought struck him, _maybe I should call her; see what's keeping her groundside._ He moved his arm from Tali's waist and pulled up his omnitool to call doctor Chakwas, keeping the camera far enough away to keep Tali's face in the frame.

"Ah, Shepard. I was wondering when you might call. Good to see you too Tali." Doctor Chakwas was moving through what appeared to be the same hospital he'd last seen her in.

"Doc, what are you still doing down there?" Shepard's forehead was creased in confusion and Tali sat up a little straighter, no doubt wondering the same.

"Well I'm afraid I must wait a few more days to make it to the Normandy Commander, we've had an influx of injured coming in from the Citadel and the staff is rather overwhelmed." The doctor made a face at something off screen and started moving in a new direction.

"What about Shepard's confinement doctor?" Tali's question made him grin as doctor Chakwas looked back down at her omnitool with a small rolling of her eyes.

"Well how do you feel Commander? No soreness? Numbness?"

"Nothing strange at all doc." He assured her.

"Tali, I expect you to insure he doesn't over do anything or stress out the limb, understand?"

"Of course doctor." Tali nodded as doctor Chakwas gave a questioning eyebrow, plainly not really believing a word of it.

"Well then I suppose so long as you take it easy, Commander, I hereby release you from confinement. And Tali…" The doctor looked from Shepard to her with a smile. "Remember to go easy on him with those legs of yours hmm?" With a wink she cut the link.


	19. No One Gets Left Behind

Sorry for the wait everyone, had a little vacation to amp up the creative juices.

special thanks to my new beta reader, you rock!

* * *

No One Gets Left Behind

Shepard had been lying in bed for a while now, just looking at Tali's sleeping form. It had been two days since EDI had briefly come online and Miranda promised that the parts and supplies should be arriving around noon. He still hadn't heard a peep out of Doctor Chakwas, but then he was still getting reports that civilians were pouring in from the Citadel. Steve had been right; the militia really _had_ gotten almost an entire arm of the citadel to safety.

Shepard looked toward the door to his cabin as he heard some scratching and chittering from that direction, but decided to continue ignoring it. The Rachni had been working non-stop on his decontamination chamber for the better part of the last two days. Tali had freaked when he brought her up here that first night, having forgotten about the Rachni completely, but eventually she'd gotten used to it. She was still upset that he wouldn't tell her what they were doing, but he refused to let the opportunity to surprise her pass him by. Tali grumbled in her sleep as she snuggled further under his arm and he grinned. _You're so beautiful, how did I come to deserve such perfection? _He stroked her arm with his fingertips as he looked into her mask, still a dull purple haze without her eyes to light it up. As if on cue her eyes fluttered open and came to focus on his face mere inches from hers.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of waking up to see your face John." Tali didn't move but just looked at him as he had with her.

"Well I should hope not, then I couldn't do this." He put his hands behind her back to pull her closer to him to place his head against her visor.

"I don't think I'll get tired of that either." Tali shifted so she could put both hands on his face, one held his head while the other started gently tracing the scars he'd accumulated over the years. He let her do what she wanted, content with just looking at her.

"You need a shave John." She said as her hand found it's way down to the stubble he'd grown on his chin.

"What, your not a beard kind of girl?" he smiled as he took his head from her visor, having to mentally prepare himself for the departure from his incredibly comfortable bed.

"If it's on you, I suppose I could become one. But I think I'll stick with clean-shaven for now."

"As you command my queen." He finally got up and gave a small bow, then moved toward the bathroom with Tali's eyes following him the whole way. After showering, he stood in front of the mirror looking at his reflection, turning his head this way and that trying to vision himself with a beard. Giving up, he grabbed the razor and started knocking off what little hair he had on his face. He saw Tali approaching behind him in the mirror but didn't stop shaving. _I don't think she appreciates how hard it is to not cut oneself while shaving if you're watching something else. _He attempted to watch what he was doing, but gave up as she snaked her arms around his chest from behind. Her hands moved along his muscles in slow motions, not really trying to provoke him, but he could tell she enjoyed those muscles immensely. _I'll just have to make sure I workout when we live on Rannoch, note to self, lots of upper bodywork._

Smiling as he put his razor down, he leaned on the sink with both hands and closed his eyes, letting her just feel him.

"I wanted to say good bye before I go down to engineering, those damn Rachni aren't quite as good with the Normandy as they are the older more well known ships. We end up re-fixing a lot of the things they replace." Tali's voice came out lazily, trying to enjoy the moment.

"Well I don't know how you clean off all that grease, but try to avoid it this time, okay gorgeous?" he turned around to reach for her head, undoing the mask clamps. Hissing as it came off, he kept it in one hand and kissed her thoroughly before pulling back with a huge smile and giving her the mask back. Tali smiled back, a smile that made him melt everytime, before looking down at the mask. Her smile slowly turned into a sad one as she turned the mask over in her hands.

"it will be a long time before I can get rid of this thing." Shepard hugged her and cradled her head as he replied.

"Sure, this trip should be a fairly long one. But our stay on Rannoch will be _**far **_longer."

Her smile slowly returned as she gave him one more kiss before she clapped the mask back on and redid the clamps.

"I forgot to metion yesterday, the Reaper upgrades to the engines have been installed but not tested, we can try them out at anytime." She got right back to business as soon as the mask was on.

"Already? I thought it would be a complete overhaul."

"No, surprisingly it's a fairly simple transaction. If you swap out the conductors with the reaper variation then the build up is no longer a problem and you can…" she cut off as she saw Shepard grinning like an idiot, not following a word she said.

"I still love it when you talk dirty." Tali just snorted and started to leave.

"And don't forget we're supposed to get the parts for EDI around noon today!" he called after her as she left the bathroom. He finished his shave and began to get dressed. He assembled his usual shipboard attire, the orange jacket with cargo pants. He liked this one best as it allowed Tali to see his muscles, and she did seem quite fascinated by them. _Guess male Quarians don't get this big. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen one with any traits one might describe as, "buff". _He shrugged and got his clothes on, pulling his work boots over his socks. As he finished he got a call on his omnitool.

"Shepard, I hope I didn't catch you napping." Doctor Chakwas looked tired, with dark circles under her eyes and her suit looking a little worse for wear.

"Doctor Chakwas! Is everything all right? I heard they were still getting a lot of refugees from the Citadel." Doctor Chakwas nodded as she responded.

"Yes Commander everything is fine, I just wanted to let you know I'll be on my way up sometime soon, and I have someone who would like to speak to you in person." She tapped a few buttons on her omnitool and Shepards screen split into two to show Aria T' Loak. The Asari had her standard glare, but no visible wounds.

"Shepard, I kept expecting you to swoop in and save everyone with a wave of your gun and a smile." Aria turned one corner of her mouth up in an almost smile.

"Aria? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you made it."

"Don't sound so disappointed Shepard, I used my handful of guards to put a little backbone into the militia. But this is all beside the point."

"And what point is that?" Shepard leaned back a little and crossed his arms.

"The point is that I hear your heading out soon, and, in the general direction of Omega."

"So you want me to give you a ride? And just what's in this for me?" he raised an eyebrow at her, but knew she had something to offer. Aria never begged.

"And thus disappears your dashing hero façade. But you're right, I wouldn't expect you to help me for nothing." Aria looked at her two toadies and moved her head to indicate they leave before she continued.

"I'm willing to let you set your price Shepard, but a word of caution, until Omega is mine again, I don't have much to give." Shepard's eyebrows rose of their own accord, he hadn't seen this coming.

"Well Omega is slightly further off my intended path than I want to go Aria, and my time is precious. Just what do you have that I could want?"

"I still have the merc groups at my fingertips, and I can offer a substantial sum of credits in smaller payments. But somehow I don't think those things are what you're looking for.

So how about this, in exchange for getting me to Omega, I will do any one thing you might ask. Whether that includes my entire organization or just myself. I will drop whatever I'm doing and help you, how does that sound?" Shepard thought about it for a moment, weighing how much it would cost him for extra supplies and If he could even trust her to do as she said with the possible benefits.

"And how do I know this is genuine? That you won't simply say you change your mind?" Aria laughed before she answered.

"Shepard please, I didn't get this far in life by betraying everyone I worked with. Besides, I know better than to go back on a deal with you."

"Well that's certainly refreshing, but you should know this might not be faster than waiting for the relays to be fixed. Ours is a journey of at least a year, probably more."

"Which brings me to my next point Shepard, I have no idea what I'll find on Omega, maybe Cerberus troops are still infecting it with their presence, I have no idea. So I'd like to extend our agreement, if you help me in retaking Omega, I'll give you all the things I listed before for as long or as often as they are needed, plus my personal favor to you. How about it?" Shepard stared at her for a long time, still judging in his own mind the risks and benefits before he replied.

"I'll think about it Aria, in the meantime, feel free to come up to the Normandy to discuss it further." Aria nodded and cut her link, leaving just Doctor Chakwas.

"Quite the interesting woman that Aria. I'll be up soon Shepard." With that, she too cut her link and left Shepard in a daze as what he'd just discussed. Before he decided anything he wanted the crews opinion. _So that means back to the rounds for me. I wonder how Aria will respond once she finds out that's standard procedure?_ He frowned at himself for talking like he'd already accepted, but shook his head and got up for the door.

* * *

Tali smiled to herself, remembering her morning talk with Shepard. _He always knows what to say to make it all better._ Still smiling, she continued her trek through the maintenance tunnels, trying but sometimes still failing to avoid the occasional greasy area. She was attempting to get to a panel that Ken said was giving irregular readings, something replaced by the Rachni no less. She had some serious issues with those things being all over her ship, but if Shepard trusted them, then so would she. And of course there was always the fact that unless you had served on this ship before, it's systems would be alien compared to most ships. The Normandy's oversized drive core alone would throw most engineers off. Tali nearly exploded with pride every time she thought about being the chief engineer on the most advanced vessel in the galaxy.

Leaving her thoughts behind, she arrived at the panel and started removing the problem piece to re-integrate it properly with the ship, using finesse over muscle was generally the way to work on anything in an engineering sense. Working the piece bit by bit she finally got it out without damaging it, setting it aside so she could work on the configuration within. She had almost gotten the desired configuration when her omnitool beeped at her with an incoming call.

"Tali it's Miranda, that shipment is due to arrive in about fifteen minutes, we can get the pieces you need to the A.I. core as soon as twenty minutes."

"That's perfect Miranda, I'm just finishing up things down here in engineering, I'll be up soon."

"Of course Tali, would you like me to inform Shepard?" Miranda's question caught her off guard.

"Um… well I suppose, but I'm not really sure how he could help."

"I'll keep him off you so you can work then."

"Thanks Miranda, I suppose he can be rather distracting."

"Mmhm." Miranda cut the link and Tali got back to work on the job in front of her.

As soon as she finished she replaced the panel covering and made her way toward the nearest exit from the tunnels. As she got to the top of the ladder she stopped to stretch out the kinks she always got from crawling around the cramped space. _I'm going to have Shepard give me a full body massage after this I think. I definitely deserve it. _She'd come out in Grunt's old quarters, and quickly started toward the elevator for deck two.

When she exited the elevator, she looked at her masks HUD and saw ten minutes had already gone by, walking to the A.I. core she took as slow a pace as possible, but still found only twelve minutes had gone by.

She stood looking at the A.I. core, trying to piece together how she would tackle the re-assembly of the many cables to EDI when Miranda walked in with her arms wrapped around a box.

"These weren't exactly cheap Tali, so please be careful." Tali saw the box was full of brand new starship energy transfer cables.

"How did you get so many? I didn't think the Reapers left any factories working."

They didn't, but factories have warehouses, which were left mostly intact for reasons I cant really fathom."

"Thanks again Miranda, I'll warn you when I'm about to plug EDI back in." Miranda nodded and left the core room. Looking like a kid with new toys, Tali started going through the box of cables carefully, so as not to scratch or harm them.

_Ok, all the pieces are in mint condition, the core has been emptied out already, and I've got the room to myself. Time to put your game face on Tali. _She chuckled as she used Garrus' line, and then got straight to work.


	20. Akin To Death

Akin To Death

"Kasumi, you ready on your end?" Tali's hand flew over her omnitool, readying the Normandy for the imminent return of its resident A.I.

"All ready here Tali, I'll shut her off the second I hear something go wrong… it won't through, right?" Kasumi's voice sounded more than a little nervous.

"We'll find out soon, be ready." _Damn, I'm really not good at reassuring; maybe I should have Shepard announce it to the crew? _Her thoughts returned to the task at hand, and she made a few last minute adjustments after double-checking her work. EDI should return as she was when she shut herself off, with the same preferences and everything. But Tali had learned that a little caution was never a bad thing, and if EDI suddenly decided that the crew was a threat then Kasumi could shut her back off. Allowing Tali to try and set her up manually. _Ok, nothing more I can do here, I'll warn Mirnada and Shepard then plug EDI in when it's approved._

Tali closed her omnitool's page and replaced it with her contacts list, calling Miranda.

"Miranda it's Tali, I think I'm all through here. I'll call Shepard for final approval then plug EDI in as soon as I can."

"Acknowledged Tali, I'll warn Joker he's about to get a power fluctuation." Miranda cut her feed and Tali pulled up the icon for Shepard on her contacts. After a few seconds he picked up, but he was talking to someone off screen.

"I know she's a bitch Garrus, but she has connections. Connections we can use." Tali heard the Turian's voice, but it sounded slightly muffled as though he were facing a different direction from the mike on Shepard's omnitool.

"I know full well what connections she has Shepard, but I'm telling you it's a bad deal. Taking her on this ship is one thing, but helping her with Omega? I don't know." Shepard looked hard at his friend, but just shook his head and turned his attention to Tali.

"Sorry beautiful, Garrus is just being a stick in the mud again." She heard a snort from Garrus before he continued.

"So what's up?"

"EDI is ready to be powered up, I figured you would like to know. But what were you two talking about? What was that about Omega?"

"Don't worry about it for now, I'll fill you in on that later. Now Tali, is EDI's body still in the casket on the cargo deck?" Shepard's face contorted into a suppressed smile as he asked.

"…Yes, why?"

"Because I don't think Joker will want to see her break through her coffin like a zombie. I'll ask Zaeed to pop it open and lay her down next to it."

"What's a… zompee?" Tali's question made Shepard chuckle as he answered.

"I'll show you a vid about one someday. For now, give me ten minutes for Zaeed to get EDI out. Once that's done I'll call you." Shepard smiled at her and cut the link.

Tali shut her omnitool off and went back to the metal box EDI was in, checking it once more for anything out of place.

* * *

Shepard looked back up at Garrus as he finished talking to Tali, and saw his old friend smirking.

"Something you want to share?" Garrus grinned further at the question.

"I just can't get over how completely enthralled you are with her. It's like watching a chick flick everyday." Shepard laughed as he responded.

"You'll find your girl one day Garrus, and when you do, I'll be there to rub this in your face."

"Of that I have no doubt." Garrus made a little two-finger salute to Shepard as he moved to the gun's interface, making some more of his calibrations. Taking the hint, Shepard got up and started leaving the room, pulling up his omnitool as he went. Calling Zaeed was a fairly straightforward procedure.

"Whadda' ya need Shepard?"

"I need you to open EDI's casket on the cargo deck, take her out and lay her down alongside it."

"…Right, sure thing Shepard. At least she won't be rotting." Zaeed's casual comment as he closed the link made him laugh. _He doesn't even care as to why, he just agreed and went to do it. _Shaking off his bemusement, he made his way to the elevator, and from there to the cockpit, to inform the only person on the ship who wasn't involved in EDI's resurrection. Joker. As he neared Joker's chair he slowed down, took a deep breath, then smoothed out his excitement so it wouldn't show.

"Joker, there's something I need you to see." His simple statement made Joker swivel his chair slowly to face him.

"Sure Commander, but I think I should say something first." Joker's face was… drained. It was really the only word that described it. it was as if the loss of EDI had actually sucked the life out of his features, leaving him looking tired and uncaring.

"Of course Joker, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? I yelled at one of my best friends in the whole galaxy because he made a good decision… One that I should've supported." Joker looked down as he finished, looking truly pitiful.

"Joker, as long as we are getting all this in the open, I have two things I think I should share. Number one, the choice I made on the Citadel was the hardest choice I have ever had to make, followed closely by saving Ashley over Kaiden." Shepard paused for a second, closing his eyes and trying to shake the images from his nightmares out of his head.

"Second, you will have a totally different outlook on this entire ordeal when I'm through showing you what I want to show you." Shepard made a "right this way" gesture then moved back to give him room to stand on his own.

"Different outlook huh? Your not going to tell me to accept Jesus as my savior are you?"

Shepard gave a loud guffaw as he turned and started to walk toward the elevator before answering.

"Not quite, you know I'm not the religious type Joker."

"Come on Commander, just spill the beans already. You know all this walking is still painful right?"

"Don't get your panties in a twist, we'll be there soon and you'll see for yourself." As they entered the elevator Joker just suffered in silent anticipation as Shepard answered a call on his omnitool.

"It's done Shepard, need anything else?" Zaeed's gruff voice sounded slightly annoyed.

"No thank you Zaeed, you can go back to whatever you were doing." Zaeed just grumbled and shut the link. But Shepard kept the tool up and called Tali.

"Tali, we're all ready here. Fire her up." Joker followed the chain of calls with an increasingly confused frown.

"Ok Shepard, she should be completely on in about one minute, the systems need time to reboot."

"That's fine beautiful, we're in the elevator so we should arrive just on time. See you soon." With a wink for Tali he shut the link, then looked straight ahead and ignored Joker's questioning stare. They rode the elevator in silence, Shepard with suppressed excitement and Joker with worried apprehension, until finally the doors pinged open to reveal the cargo deck.

"Bout' bloody time the elevator got here, that broad wouldn't stop asking questions when she got up." Zaeed walked past them as he talked, entering the elevator.

"Broad? Who else is down here? Damn it Shepard, what's going on?"

"Please remain calm, Jeff." Joker's eyes went wide as he froze, his mouth open and finger pointing at Shepard as he was about to demand answers. Ever so slowly, Joker turned his head toward the voice, his eyes unable to go any wider so he simply stared.

EDI was walking up from behind some crates near the entrance to the cargo bay, looking for all the world as if nothing was wrong.

"E… EDI?" Joker's voice was barely audible as he spoke; his body was so tense Shepard thought he must think this was a cruel joke and was preparing for the punch line.

"Yes Jeff?"

"You, you died! I saw you!" Joker's eyes were starting to well up as he fought tears, but he kept a stance that indicated he didn't fully believe all this yet.

"No Jeff, I simply shut down. My intention had been to avoid the blast that was created by the crucible, having seen what it was doing to the Reapers. So I cut of all power in the event of contact with said beam, as I am standing next to a coffin, and my internal systems indicate approximately a month and a half has passed since this unit last moved, I can safely assume I was, "dead." Joker simply stared, completely unaware that he was crying. He watched as EDI walked up to him slowly, then gently gave him a hug. The face that poked over EDI's shoulder was in complete disarray, it looked like Joker was trying to process way too many emotions at once, thus not really showing any of them.

"Why don't you two head back to the cockpit and catch up, hmm?" Shepard had a grin that widened as they both looked at him, still hugging.

"You knew about this didn't you? I can't believe you would hide something like this from me!" Joker's outburst wasn't nearly as angry as he no doubt tried to sound; it's quite impossible to be angry while hugging the person you love most.

"You bet your ass I knew about it. And no I don't regret hiding it; your face just now was priceless. Besides, the entire crew worked together to get her back. We missed you EDI." The A.I.'s face was blank for a moment before she responded.

"Judging from the strength of Jeff's hug, I can't really argue with that assessment." Joker laughed a little and pulled back from EDI, keeping his hands on her shoulders.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, you don't know how close I came to… never mind. Come on EDI, the cockpit just isn't the same without you, and I can't stand like this for long." EDI smiled as she took Joker's hand and they walked to the elevator. Shepard watched with a small smile as the doors closed, he was thoroughly pleased with himself for not giving up. _But as usual, it would never have happened without Tali._

As he waited for the elevator to come back down, he looked around at the cargo bay. Seeing all the crates stacked on top of one another, most stuffed with Levo and Dextro amino foods, but others with all the essentials for prolonged flights. They had enough provisions to last a good five years with all this, and he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen the hold this full.

_ We'll be spending a lot of time on this ship, I wonder if I should propose during our flight, or when we are on Rannoch?_ Having read up on Quarian "wedding" rituals to the best of his ability, he had deciphered that Quarians weren't big on the celebrating part. They were shorter and more to the point, but he wasn't willing to not celebrate the greatest thing in his life. _She's gonna get a party alright, oh yes._ He chuckled to himself as he entered the elevator, but as he thought about it, he slowly came to a decision. _No other time will all of our friends and relatives be in the same place. This is as good as it gets._ He pressed the button for the crew deck and waited for the doors to open. Tapping his foot anxiously, he recalled what he could of the correct way to formally propose in Quarian fashion. He had decided earlier not to try and speak actual Keelish, fearing he'd mangle whatever he was trying to say so badly as to make any linguist cry. He decided instead to mix a little of both cultures.

Bursting from the door as soon as it opened he strode into Miranda's quarters to find her reading her computer screen. The former Cerberus operative had wide eyes as Shepard barreled into her small room.

"Miranda is that special package I asked for here yet?" Miranda's face slowly started to split into a grin as she reached under her desk and grabbed it.

"Yes it came in with the parts for EDI, whom I might add has been incredibly chatty."

"I am sorry if I have bothered you Ms Lawson." The voice came in from the rooms PA system.

"It's alright EDI, I wasn't upset." Miranda's smile slowly faded as she saw Shepard staring intently at the small box she'd handed him.

"Shepard, are you alright?" he looked up and gave her his best imitation of a reassuring smile.

"What? Oh yea I'm fine, it's just a big step, you know?" He turned the box over in his hand as he talked, but realized Miranda was staring at him with one eyebrow raised in disbelief. _She's befuddled as to how the conquerer of the Reapers is nervous about proposing. _he realized his thoughts reflected how _he_ felt. He decided to make a quick exit.

"Right, well thanks Miranda, I'll see you soon." He turned to leave but stopped as he remembered something, "Oh, and we need to talk. There's a… pressing matter we should discuss."

Miranda simply nodded and looked back to her computer, her look of mild disbelief was still there though. Leaving her room, Shepard brought up his omnitool to check his messages, eager to find anything to take his mind of how nervous he was as he made his way to the elevator. He had a few "thank you" and "bless you" messages, to which he responded kindly, but the last one caught his attention.

_Shepard, _

_ "The Rachni will forever sing of your kindness and compassion, our children will be always in your debt." Loesha here, as you requested we are building a decontamination chamber near your quarters, we believe it will be completed by tomorrow evening. In the event that there is something wrong, please inform us. – Loesha, Ambassador for the Rachni._

Shepard read the brief message and instantly gained his smile back. Everything was lining up for him. _I_ _just wish I could get over the butterflies. _He stepped out of the elevator and into a swirling mass of Rachni workers. He jumped and reached for the pistol that wasn't there before he caught a hold of himself. As he looked more closely, he saw there were only two workers, but they were moving very fast. Moving from one end of the room to the other, chittering to each other as they constructed his gift to Tali.

Easing his way between the two, he snuck into the cabin without disturbing them. Setting the small box on his desk on his way to the bed, he jumped and landed on the pillows with his face. Sighing heavily into the pillow, he turned himself over and stared at the door. He sat like that for a while, not feeling any less nervous.

"Shepard, are you feeling well?" EDI had been watching him apparently.

"Sure, why do you ask?"

"You appear… stressed." Suppressing a laugh, he nodded as he answered.

"Stressed, yes I suppose that is what I am. EDI, where is Tali?"

"Tali is conversing with me in the core room, should I ask her to join you in your cabin?"

"If you could, yes I would appreciate it." Shepard dragged a hand across his face as he sat up fully.

"EDI, you aren't recording everything in here are you?" the AI didn't respond for a moment. _Probably turning off her cameras._

"I am not, and have not recorded the crews doings even before I shut down. Would you like me to turn on my camera's for the posterity of the upcoming event?"

Shepard climbed off the bed and looked right at EDI's console.

"What event? What are you talking about?"

"Judging by your facial features and your recent call for Tali to join you, I can surmise with a fair amount of certainty that you are going to either propose to her, or murder her."

"_What?" _

"That was a joke." Shepard just sat back down and planted his head in his hands. He stayed like that until EDI spoke again.

"Shepard, Tali has almost arrived to this floor, should I record this for you?" He thought about it quickly before nodding to her. Picking up his silent cue she simply said, "Recording" before disappearing into her console once more. He stood up as the cabin doors opened, revealing a moderately greased Tali.

"EDI said you wanted to see me Shepard?"

"Yeah Tali, I need to ask you something." Walking up the stairs, he snagged the box from his desk and knelt in front of her, opening the small case to reveal a glittering diamond ring. the blue light from the fish tank behind her lit her up in an angelic glow. His voice didnt tremble even once as he spoke.

"The dust is gone, my path lies clear. Tali Zorah Vas Normandy, will you join me on the path of life?"


	21. Shady Connections

Shady Connections

At first, Tali stood completely still, her eyes not moving at all as she looked down at him. Shepard was on one knee, which she assumed was some kind of human addition to the ceremony, holding a small box with a diamond ring inside. She looked at the box then back to Shepard, hesitating before she spoke the words.

"The dust is gone, my path is clear. John Shepard, I will join you on the path of life." Her voice broke a little as she started crying towards the end. She stepped closer with the intent of accepting his offering, when he stood up and took the ring from its box. Taking her hand, he gently slipped the ring onto her middle finger. It was a perfect fit. Trying in vain to contain her sniffling, she looked at him as he played with her hand. He was smiling so wide she thought it must hurt his face, but he looked to the side as he spoke.

"EDI, you can stop recording now." Tali whipped around to see EDI's hologram pop up at the mention of her name.

"She recorded that?" She couldn't quite keep the sheer horror out of her voice with her question, to which EDI tried to explain.

"Tali, Shepard asked that the ceremony be recorded for posterity, I do not record the crew, excepting if I am asked to." EDI apparently thought that was enough as she dropped her hologram back into its perch.

"You did that on purpose? Oh Keelah, she better not spread it around!"

"Tali, relax. It's just for us and other people who we want to share it with. Now, there was a reason I told her to stop recording…Fiancée."

"I don't really know what that word means Shepard."

"It means we are almost married, we're just waiting for the ceremony now." She eyed him askance for a moment, cocking her helmet to the side.

"Ceremony? Shepard, the only thing we need is our own confirmation. We don't need someone else's permission to know we love each other." She was getting into a lecture again but Shepard headed her off.

"I know Tali, I read up on your culture, or at least as much as I could find. But when I say ceremony, I mean _my _culture. There is no way I'm not celebrating my marrying the most gorgeous girl in this universe. And if I can celebrate, why not everyone else?" He was still grinning like an idiot as he told her his plan. She stood in appalled silence when he finally finished.

"You want to invite _**everyone**__?_ John, this ship can't even hold that many!" He chuckled at her question but answered.

"No my love, not _everyone_,just all our friends and family. You know, like the old SR-1 gang and your aunt Raan. Really Tali, it won't be that bad, just relax and you'll have fun. Trust me." He leaned into her, his forehead tapping her helmet as he gazed into her eyes.

"Well if you say so, but it sounds incredibly wasteful to celebrate something so small." Tali was surprised as Shepard's sudden frown.

"Small? Tali, none of this would be here if not for you, this whole galaxy would be a smoking graveyard, if not for you and the crew helping me! So you tell me again how it's wasteful to celebrate after having just saved everything in existence." She still didn't like the idea, but he was right in his own way. _But it's just so embarrassing! I'll have __**everyo**__**ne** I know watching me! Oh Keelah…_

Shepard must've sensed her thoughts as he wrapped his arms around her and spoke gently.

"Sshh, it's ok Tali, I'll be here with you. I'll always be here for you." Leaning into him heavily, she cried tears of joy and nervousness into his shoulder. _How long have I dreamed about this day? How many times have I daydreamed about bonding with him? And now I have him._

She felt her hands act of their own accord, flying up to her helmet and undoing the clamps. Tossing the helmet down, she practically wrestled him to the ground with kisses.

"How…Do we… Always… End up like this?" Shepard tried to speak between kisses but she kept cutting him off. As much as she loved his voice, she didn't want words right then.

* * *

A long while later, Shepard was stomping his boots on, with Tali still behind him on the bed sleeping it off.

He was feeling the effects of her exuberance as well. _I must be doing __**something **__right to spark passion like that. _Grinning at the memory of her pouncing on him, he stood up for the exit. Moving around the scurrying Rachni, he entered the elevator and punched in deck three. Whistling softly to himself and keeping a tired grin on his face, he stepped onto the crew deck and started toward the nearest crewmember, Kasumi. Knocking before sliding the door back, he looked around but failed to find her.

"Ah come on Kasumi! I even knocked first!"

"That you did, come on in Shep." He frowned, as he still couldn't see her, but turned toward the bar as he heard the familiar sound of glasses touching one another. Standing up from behind the bar and holding two large wine glasses, was Kasumi. She wore a big smile as she set the glasses on the bar and ducked back down, presumably to look for the alcohol.

"What's all this about?" He lifted his chin at the glasses.

"Well about you getting married of course!" he must've looked more worried than he had meant, because she quickly explained.

"I begged and pleaded with EDI to show me the video after I told her I already knew it was happening. I had seen the ring before Miranda got it while it was in the hold, wasn't hard to guess from there."

EDI's hologram popped up to defend herself.

"Actually Shepard, she threatened to try and hack me if I didn't show her, seeing as how I might've hurt her if she tried, I decided to let her see it. She _did_ already know about it after all." Shepard looked back and forth between the two shaking his head.

"Hacking EDI? Kasumi I think even you would find that impossible. And EDI, I expect you to make your own decisions, but on personal matters, _please_ try and be more private. And I better not hear a word out of either of you about this unless Tali or I ask, understood?" His voice was hard as he finished, he would defend Tali, even from embarrassment. _With the way she is, __**especially**__ from embarrassment._ He waited for Kasumi's reluctant nod and EDI to confirm the order, before he settled down onto a bar stool, his smile returning.

"Now then, I have a question for you Kasumi." She cocked her head but waited patiently as he sipped form the drink she had slid to him over the bar.

"How would you feel about Aria T' Loak staying aboard this ship for our flight?"

Kasumi frowned at him, her lips compressing to a thin line.

"I've made a few thefts for and against her people, she won't know me, but I don't like the idea of her being on this ship for that long." she took a sip from her own glass and smacked her lips as the warm liquid slid down her throat.

"Neither does anyone else, but I'll tell you what she told me. For delivering her to Omega, she has promised me a personal favor, that she will drop anything she's doing and help me, whatever the task or problem." Kasumi nodded at this, not questioning this promise as the others might. She knew Aria wouldn't go back on it.

"Second, she has promised additional aid if I help her retake Omega from whatever has taken over in the time she's been gone." Kasumi shook her head at that last but didn't speak right away.

"Thoughts?"

"I don't know about that last bit Shep, depending on who controls the station, we could have a real fight on our hands. We're talking a serious ground war here, clearing all of Omega, corridor by cramped corridor." She just shook her head again as she stopped.

Shepard understood her concerns, but he needed that cash. He had no delusions about being rich; his current stash of money would only last so long, _especially if I spoil Tali as much as I intend to. _He was rustled from his thoughts by Kasumi speaking.

"For the long haul to Omega, I guess I can see her coming with us, but helping with Omega? Now that, I have issues with; consider my vote an emphatic, "no" on this one Shep." He nodded as she concluded, then threw back his drink, feeling it burn as it went down, then stood up.

"Alright Kasumi, I won't force anyone to help, but I need to go ask the others before I agree or turn her down." He turned and got to the door, but Kasumi's voice made him stop.

"Thank you Shep, for asking all of us like this. Most Captains would just spring it on everyone then expect them to help." He smiled as he replied.

"Commander, not Captain."

Leaving Kasumi's room he started toward Miranda's quarters. _With her, it's probably best to just ask straight away, no beating around the bush. _He nodded at his own thoughts as he approached her door, then knocked and waited for her response.

"Enter." As he walked in he saw her sitting as he had left her, staring at her computer.

"Don't you ever take a break from that computer?" his playful tone got a faint smile from her lips, but her tone didn't reflect it.

"You know as well as I do that this needs to be done. Without me running interference you would be swamped with messages, and our supplies would be non-existent." He snorted at her bullshit before calling her out on it.

"First of all, I saw the cargo hold, if you got anymore supplies the ship couldn't carry it all. And my messages are _my_ problem, you should enjoy yourself while you have the chance." Miranda smiled at the last.

"I thought that's what _you_ were doing. Besides, there isn't much for me to enjoy on a ruined Citadel now is there?" Shepard had to agree with her, there wasn't much to do in a space station that had no people.

"Well pretty soon we can _all _enjoy ourselves for a time, I'm throwing a party in celebration of Tali and I getting married." For once Miranda's smile actually reached her eyes as she congratulated him.

"I'm very happy for you and Tali commander, I must say, you two make a wonderful couple."

"I appreciate that Miranda, really I do. Plus, it means a lot to hear the genetically perfect woman say my wife and I are a good match." Miranda snorted at his remark but left it alone.

"So what did you come to see me for Shepard?" She sat back in her chair, an expectant look on her face.

"Well, I was contacted by Aria T' Loak." He gave her the spiel on Aria's deal then walked over to her chair and sat with a sigh, waiting for her response.

"A woman like Aria on our side is no small victory Shepard, but she _is _dangerous. I'm not sure about taking Omega for her, but her supposed promise could be a real help while on Rannoch." He could almost envision he saw the logistical gears in her head smoking with all the possibilities.

"So you would agree to having her aboard?" his voice was casual but he was trying to feel her out by her reactions; since the woman was so damn hard to read, she made it no easy task.

"Yes, I believe simply taking her with us would be easy and the reward is quite useful. But as for the latter proposal, I'm not comfortable with it until I see what we are dealing with."

"Agreed, I thought along similar lines," He nodded his approval of her over steepled fingers. "Miranda, there's only one thing I want to discuss before I leave." He tried to make his voice sound incredibly serious, as if about to drop some emotional bomb on her, then stared at her with a dark expression for a few seconds.

Could you make the preparations for the party? You know, food and invitations and all that?" His grin exploded over his face as she rolled her eyes and laughed at his antics.

"Of course Commander, just tell me who you would like aboard and I'll make it happen." Still smiling broadly he told her his desired group.

"You may also want to consult with Aria when she gets up here about partying, she can throw a good one I'm sure." Shepard laughed as his advice got a sigh from Miranda, but he got up to leave before she could say anything.

"I'll leave you to it then, I can't thank you enough Miranda." Then he left her quarters with a huge smile still lighting his face up. _Well all that's left is Zaeed and Joker, but I think Joker might be to preoccupied to even notice Aria is aboard. _

"To Zaeed's hovel it is." He spoke under his breath as he started toward the elevators but stopped, hearing the sound of banging pots and pans coming from the small kitchen area.

As he got closer he frowned, no one was there that he could see, but he still heard the sounds.

"Guddam cook doesn't even store his bloody food in the right place, how's a man supposed to find any grub in this shit?" His smile returning, Shepard walked up to the counter and rested an elbow on it, waiting for Zaeed to stand back up from the cabinet. The old merc was throwing kitchen supplies from the small cabinet, looking for something he obviously wasn't finding, and cursing as he kept digging. Shepard had seen the man make a multitude of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on his time aboard the ship, and figured his penchant for them was due to their convenience in the field. Old habits being what they were, he probably just never really took the time to eat much else.

"Did you try the fridge Zaeed?" The older man snapped his head around then relaxed once he saw Shepard.

"Of course not, who the hell puts peanut butter in the fridge?" Zaeed slammed the cabinet door and got up to search the fridge anyway, apparently deciding it was worth a shot. As he rifled through the contents of the fridge, Shepard could hear him muttering under him breath until he finally exclaimed, "Ah ha!" He straightened up and started unscrewing the cap and grabbing a knife to spread it with.

"So what's the deal Shepard, or was I just disturbing the peace?" Shepard watched the man as he concentrated on his sandwich. Zaeed looked better rested than he had on earth, even slightly happy as he finished creating his sandwich and took his first bite.

"I was just on my way to your room, had a question or two to ask."

"That so? Well what might they be?" He sounded muffled as he spoke around a mouthful of peanut butter. Shepard watched him for a moment more before he asked.

"I wanted to know your thoughts about Aria T' Loak staying aboard the Normandy."

The former Mercenary froze with his mouth open and his sandwich halfway to his mouth, then slowly closed it and put the sandwich on the counter.

"And just why would that bitch be coming with us?" Shepard once again gave Aria's proposition and let the other man process the information. As he listened Zaeed had picked up his PB&J and continued his lunch, managing to look thoughtful as he savored every bite.

"I assume everyone else told you they were ok with it hmm? This crew always was completely bat-shit crazy." Zaeed looked at the remains of his sandwich as he spoke, but looked up and continued. "I suppose I can live with it Shepard, so long as we drop her off as quickly as possible, that crazy Asari thinks she controls every damn thing, probably gonna walk around here like some kind of bloody queen. But I wouldn't mind taking out a few thugs on Omega for her, nice and simple that, if a bit messy." Shepard watched him as he took the last bite of his sandwich and dusted his hands of the crumbs.

"Alright Zaeed, just making sure you are ok with it. I don't want to be stuck on a ship with her any longer than is strictly necessary either, so no worries there." Zaeed nodded his agreement and started toward the elevator, talking over his shoulder as he walked.

"You got my answer Shepard, You know where I'll be if you need anything." He watched the man go with a small smile. _He's probably going to go clean Jessie again for the millionth time. Boy has that rifle seen better days._ He shook the picture of that old rusty rifle from his mind and decided he'd see if Tali was still asleep. Walking to the elevator, he closed his eyes a little as he stood inside. As he was about to press the button he was jerked from his half sleep by his omnitool beeping. Groaning, he answered the call to see Joker's face, looking considerably better than it had a day ago.

"Commander, Just got a call from an inbound shuttle asking for landing clearance, we expecting company?"

"Sure am Joker, Doctor Chakwas and Aria T' loak are on that shuttle." Joker stared at him with a raised brow as if expecting a joke, but saw there wasn't one and got serious.

"Ok Commander, I'll let them on. And If you don't mind me saying, you look like you need some sleep."

"I'm well aware of that fact Joker, please inform Aria she may take any of the available spaces for her own while she's here. but I'll be in my quarters." Joker nodded and shut the link, letting Shepard sleepily press the button for his cabin.

As he arrived, he saw He'd been gone for about an hour and a half, but Tali was still passed out. Moving carefully so as not to wake her up, he removed his work clothes and snuggled in beside her, wrapping an arm around her as she grumbled slightly.

_I'll deal with problems later. For now, I can enjoy this._


	22. Start Of Something Great

Start Of Something Great

Shepard walked behind Tali, keeping a hand over her visor as he guided her up the stairs in his cabin.

"Easy now, watch the steps beautiful."

"Shepard, really, what is this? Where are we going?" Her exasperated tone made him smile as he thought about what he was showing her, and what she would no doubt want to do after he did.

"I told you, it's a surprise." He had gotten a message from Loesha that the workers were finally done with the decontamination chamber outside his door. He had been awake and snuggling with her for a long time after waking up from their joint nap, and he had woke up with only good news. Aria hadn't started a riot with his crew, and everybody had been fine with her joining them for the long haul. She had apparently decided to use Grunt's old quarters, as they were the most spacious. Plus he had tested the decontamination chamber himself, and it appeared completely functional.

Returning his attention to the task at hand, he carefully guided Tali towards the cabin door and popped it open. As they walked in together he kept his hand over her mask, he wanted to time it right. Reaching for the door's close button, he waited for the computerized voice.

"Decontamination commencing." He then slowly took his hands off her visor and watched her look around with wonder.

"You actually got a decon chamber installed? Oh Keelah, John I can take my mask off all the time now!" she practically squealed with excitement as the voice declared them decontaminated. She ripped her mask off and lunged for him, once again pinning him to the wall outside his room. _Ah no, not this time you don't. _Using her own pressure, he slid out from under her and pinned her to the wall instead, all the while still kissing her. Breaking from the kiss for a brief moment, he smiled and put his arms behind her.

"My turn gorgeous." He pulled her up into his arms and walked back through the cabin door, they looked like true newly weds the way he carried her to the bed. He laid her down gently on the bed while still holding her.

"You know, all we need now is to find you some casual clothes, maybe something to emphasize those marvelous hips of yours." She laughed and punched him in the shoulder playfully.

"Me? What about you? Maybe I'll find some clothes that emphasize your chest." She raked her gloved hands down the area in question.

"Those would be called spandex shirts, and somehow I don't think I could ever live down wearing one."

"Spandex hmm? Maybe later." She giggled as he took his arms out from under her and jumped on the bed beside her, landing heavily.

"Now where were we Miss Vas Normandy? Ah yes, I believe I remember." Leaning in he started kissing her neck, working his way down. The moan he got in reward had a devastating effect on him. So when his omnitool beeped at him he growled a curse. _This had better be beyond important. _Tali hissed slightly as he stopped his downward motion, her face was frustration incarnate.

"Shepard, I'm sure your busy, but Aria's practically fuming that you haven't come to speak with her yet." Miranda's voice was troubled, but he was in no mood to play games with Aria.

"Tell her she can damn well wait! And please make sure we aren't disturbed, yes that was an order." Closing the link he turned back to Tali, and upon seeing her expression instantly started working on the various suit release clamps.

* * *

Aria found herself pacing up and down her small quarters. After closing the link with that Miranda woman, she needed to let out some frustrations.

"Make me wait? Pff, who does he think he is?" _He's the savior of the galaxy and it's his ship._ She wanted to punch her subconscious for being so right, but continued her pacing. She tried instead to put more thought into why Shepard wasn't talking to her.

_Is he trying to draw more money out of me or something? No, he's good with words but he's not sneaky enough. He's far too honorable for that. Then why? What could he gain by ignoring me?_ She stopped her pacing as she thought of something else. _Since when do I get this irritated? Why the hell should I care if he talks to me? I'll just sit and wait here until he decides one way or another. _Looking around the barren room with only her bags in one corner and no furniture, she sighed. _Looks like my plan is foiled before it began, unless I want to sit on the floor. _She snorted at how ridiculous the very thought was and made her way to the door.

It opened before she got very close, admitting an older human male with horrible scars all over the right side of his face. The scars didn't bother her much as she constantly had bodyguards around her who were far worse. The man had two chairs, one under each arm, and a blank expression.

"Knew this room was empty as hell, thought you could use these. The name's Zaeed if you care."

"Not really no." _at least he's more laid back then some of Shepard's crew. _She ran a critical eye over him as he set the chairs up towards the side of the room where her bags were.

"Didn't think so, you always were a bit of a bitch." The man's comment made her laugh openly, _definitely not like the rest of this crew._

"Oh really? And have we met before?" she walked over to one of the chairs he'd brought and sat down.

"Once, you had a couple of your guards give me the low down on a mission back when I was a merc. You only saw me for a minute or two, but apparently I did a good job of not leaving an impression." She raised an eyebrow at him as he finished. Purposely not leaving an impression with shady employers was always a very important step in not becoming a "loose end" and getting killed. She had learned that early on in her mercenary days.

"I see. Before you go, can you tell me what Commander Shepard is doing that's so important he can't break away from it to speak with me?" The man's sudden laughter caught her somewhat of guard as he answered.

"Sure I can. EDI, can you tell me where Shepard is?" the small platform on the wall suddenly had an image of a small blue and whitish ball floating over it and a computerized voice came from the PA system.

"Commander Shepard is in the captains quarters. I cannot give anything more concrete than that." The floating ball disappeared back inside its house as soon as it stopped.

"If Shepard's in his quarters he's doing one of two things, sleeping, or foolin' with his new fiancée."

She could barely contain her disbelief at his last word, surely she should have heard about this?

"When did that happen?"

"Last night I think, I don't really know, I was pretty guddam drunk."

"He lets you get drunk here? Isn't there some kind of policy or some crap against alcohol? Him being such a do-gooder I can't imagine he'd let that slide." She looked the unspoken question at him and saw him snort in response.

"You don't give him much credit do you? The damn fool can throw back more than I can and not even get drunk. That's probably those damn cybernetics he's got though. Anyway, the point is Shepard seems to like making sure the crew is happy, which includes alcohol. The shit he's got in the bar with the thief is like stale piss though, I'd recommend finding your own brand." He paused for a second, as if realizing who he was talking with, and regained his gruff exterior.

"But as I was saying, not many like him anymore, that's for damn sure." She digested this new information with a thoughtful expression. _Who could he be bonded to? That woman she'd spoken to earlier? Possibly, maybe the thief Zaeed spoke of?_ She decided to ask but was thwarted as the man got up from the chair opposite her and started walking toward the door.

"You need anything might as well call on me, that's what Shepard will do anyway if you call him."

as the doors close behind him Aria found herself somewhat flustered. She was so used to being in control, regardless of where she went, that someone walking out without her say so was severely irritating. _And since I still don't have Omega, I can't just kill whatever aggravates me, damn the illusive man!_ Thoughts about Cerberus taking Omega from her just stirred up her anger even more. Not able to stand her tiny room anymore, she left in search of some entertainment. She entered the elevator and pressed the icon for the next floor up. Waiting on the agonizingly slow process, Aria kept her face neutral until the elevator doors finally opened. Stepping out she looked around for some kind of indicator as to what was where on the ship. Seeing the word "Lounge" over the top of the door to the left, she decided she'd give it a try.

As she entered, she immediately found the point of interest, the bar. Walking over to it she found herself nodding in approval at Shepard's selection of brands, which were displayed on a shelf behind the bar itself. _What was that idiot talking about? some of these are top notch brands. _She stood with her hands on the bar, attempting to select a brand when a small human girl materialized on the opposite side of the bar.

"Hey there, what can I get cha?"


	23. Killing Time

Killing Time

Watching as she slowly put her feet in the suit, then wiggled her hips as she worked it up to her waist, Shepard felt like his eyes were glued to her body.

She teasingly slid it up to her shoulders, still exposing some of herself, then turned around to face him. Tali had a huge smile, making his heart practically dissolve in his chest.

"Why Shepard, are you staring at something?" her hands slid down the sides of her suit sensually, then brought them back up to finish putting on the skin tight suit. She kept her hood down and flopped down on the bed, watching him.

"What was it you said earlier? My turn?" Shepard realized he still had nothing on but his skivvies and frowned down at them, as if wondering why that was. He sighed as he got up and found his things, and laid them out on the bed. While struggling to put his pants on he realized he was far too close to the bed, as Tali reached out and slapped his bottom.

"Ah! Damn, I thought this was a no hands show!" He smiled to show he was kidding and finished putting his other things on. But when he got to his shirt an idea crossed his mind. Grabbing a plain white tee he put it on and turned to face her.

"Tali, does this shirt seem too small to you?"

"Maybe, but it's not really good for meeting someone in, don't you think?"

"I agree." He then grabbed two handfuls of the shirt on his chest and pulled apart, showing his muscles as he ripped the shirt off his chest. Tali giggled as he stood there with his shirt dangling loosely from his hands, a big loving smile on his face.

"There you go gorgeous, a show for a show. Now shall we go and greet our new guest?" He stuffed himself into his usual orange jacket and extended his hand for her to take.

Looking up at him she returned his smile and took his hand, wrapping her arms around his large arm muscles as he led her on toward the elevator.

"After a display of strength like that, how could I say no?" Tali had her playful tone so he decided to play along as he waited for her to put her mask on before opening the elevator. After a small hiss, her mask was on all the way and he smacked the button for the doors to open and led her inside.

"Insulting a mans strength? Low blow Tali, low blow." Without missing a beat she replied with, "How low, exactly?" and snaked one arm along his leg. Trying unsuccessfully to ignore the shiver that ran up his spine, he grabbed her arm before it got where it was going.

"Whoa there! Just what might you be doing my darling wife?" he brought her hand up and kissed the top of it gently. Laughing quietly, she just held his hand as the elevator finally opened onto the crew deck.

"Shepard, if you are looking for Aria T' Loak, she is in the lounge area." EDI's voice came from his omnitool this time, rather than the PA system, but he just nodded and started walking that direction with Tali still on his arm.

He entered the lounge and immediately heard Aria's voice coming from the bar.

"You make a damn good mix girl." Aria swirled her glass of alcohol and took a sip before she realized there were other people in the room. Turning to greet them she instead froze as she saw him and Tali.

"Something wrong Aria?" Shepard followed Aria's stare to Tali and instantly knew what was going on. _She's surprised I have a Quarian on my arm, but is it racism or just plain old surprise?_ The former queen of Omega quickly regained her composure and nodded in their direction.

"No nothing wrong, just commenting on your bartender's abilities." Kasumi had a smirk on her lips, but Shepard decided to defend her regardless of whether she cared.

"Actually, Kasumi here is an invaluable part of my ground team. She's an unparalleled Infiltrator." Kasumi gave a small bow for the compliments. Standing from her barstool, Aria walked up to Shepard and glared at him for a moment, then extended her hand.

" I believe congratulations are in order, I heard you were bonded recently." Shepard shook her hand and gave a quizzical look, which Aria ignored; she was inspecting Tali as if trying to gain her measure with looks alone.

"You must be the lucky lady, though I must say, this is an interesting match up." Shepard felt Tali stir a little on his arm at the comment and patted her hand in an attempt to soothe her.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that, but I'll warn you now, do not insult her." Smirking a little, Aria answered in a reassuring tone.

"Of course not Shepard, I've seen many cross species couples. And your name is…?"

"Tali Shepard Vas Normandy." Shepard brought his head around to look at her when she said his name in hers. But smiled as he thought about it._ She was studying my culture too._

Aria shook Tali's hand as well then immediately got down to business.

"But that's not why I'm here, have you come to a decision on our agreement?"

"I have, we'll get you to Omega, but we need to see what's there before we commit to helping you retake it." Aria arched an eyebrow as she heard his last line.

"So what, if it's too tough you'll leave me high and dry?" her tone was almost accusatory, like it was happening right then and there.

"If we think we can't help, yes. But you can always just come with us if it's too fortified." He spoke flatly as he gave her the facts.

"I'm sure the admiralty board would let you stay with us on Rannoch if it's too bad at Omega." Tali sounded a little hesitant about that, but he was proud of her for still wanting to help Aria, despite her earlier slight.

"Rannoch? I assume that means the Geth let you have it back?" Aria's expression was incredibly neutral for just finding something like this out. _But then again, it doesn't really concern her, so she probably doesn't really care._

"They have, though the Geth are dead now." Tali's voice was very quiet as she finished. Aria's expression didn't change, and she turned to Shepard looking for a change of topic.

"I would've like to use what's left of the mercenary groups in my bid as well, they each have a stake in retaking Omega, but they can't get there in time and I won't wait." Aria looked regretfully at the bar's selection before heading past him for the door. As it opened she turned.

"I'll be in my new quarters if I'm needed." Then she was gone. After a couple seconds of glancing at one another, Kasumi broke the silence.

"Well I think that went about as well as could be expected." All three nodded and laughed their agreement as Shepard led Tali to the bar and sat on the stool next to her.

Kasumi grinned as she picked up a stout glass cup and started to rub a towel over it.

"So, what can I do ya for?" her fake southern accent making Shepard laugh deeply, the idea of a petite Asian woman with a southern accent was quite hilarious. Tali's eyes narrowed a little in what he took for confusion, but she didn't ask.

"I'll have a Martini, Shaken, not stirred." He gave his best Sean Connery impression, making Kasumi almost drop her glass in laughter.

"And what might you want my dear?" Tali gave him a look that said she would find out what they were laughing at later, and turned her attention to Kasumi.

"I don't really know, what's that one there?" She pointed at a tall dark green bottle that was on the Dextro amino side of the shelf. Picking it up, Kasumi inspected it and made sure it was indeed Dextro friendly.

"This is… Turian wine, year…" she frowned and looked closer as if making sure she wasn't mistaken.

"Year 2155." Shepard found his eyebrows climbing his forehead.

"I didn't know we had anything that old here." His head followed the bottle as Kasumi popped the cork and poured some for Tali, who shifted in her seat a little nervously as the drink was presented.

"I'll, um, need a straw." Kasumi ducked under the counter and brought up exactly that as Shepard started chuckling to himself. Tali looked at him with a stern set to her body.

"And just why is that funny?"

"Just thinking about your uh, '_ahem'_, emergency induction port." He snickered as she cocked her helmet to the side, apparently not remembering that conversation. She thought about it for a moment more before she shook her head in exasperation and put the straw into the slot under her helmet. The other two watched as they waited for Tali's reaction, Kasumi still making Shepard a martini while she waited. Tali sat still for a second, small smacking noises coming from her helmet speaker, then she pulled her head up to take the straw out and nod her head.

"This is great! It's almost fruity, and it is _very_ smooth." He laughed as she almost eagerly stuck the straw back in the slot.

"Ok, well I have some more stops to make, why don't you hang out with Kasumi for a while beautiful?" Tali just nodded and continued to drain her glass, and Kasumi flicked her gaze to him with a small smile and made the "ok" symbol with one hand.

_Yeah, she'll be fine. _

He smiled as he turned around and left the room, starting toward Miranda's Quarters. Knocking as he arrived, he waited for her yell of "Enter" before he hit the door controls and walked in to see Miranda sitting not at her desk, but hunched over her coffee table on the couch. She was scribbling on a small note, making what to him looked like a grocery list when she looked up and saw him.

"Ah Shepard, just who I wanted to see." Her unusual greeting made him blink, but he continued walking to the couch.

"You wanted to see me?" the surprise on his face was quite visible.

"Yes, I wanted to see you concerning the party." She stowed the small paper into a pocket that he was shocked she managed to have in a suit that tight. _Though come to think of it, Tali does the same thing. _

She saw his small frown and apparently thought it concerned her statement, as she quickly tried to sound reassuring.

"There's nothing wrong, I just wanted to ask you about some decorations."

"Hmm? Oh right, well what do you need?"

"I had some things already in mind, and I just wanted your approval. I'm assuming the party will be on the crew deck, yes?" He could see Miranda going through a mental checklist as she began.

"For the most part, yes. I want to get some use out of that poker table in the lounge for one." _I've wanted to use that since I saw it. _His mind was drawn back as she continued asking questions.

"Alright, I also need to know if you wanted a buffet, or an actual dinner?" He was genuinely surprised at the question, but decided to hold his questions for later.

"It's been a long time since I had a buffet, let's do that." She nodded and made another check mark on her mental list.

"Lastly Commander, what is yours and Tali's favorite color?" Frowning, he realized he hadn't really thought about it. _I guess I always assumed it was purple._

"I'll need to check with her on that, why do you ask?"

Miranda gave a mysterious smile and a cryptic, "You'll see" before getting up from the couch and moving back to her computer. She sat in her chair facing the computer and gestured for him to come over. He moved to follow her and stood looking at the computer screen over her shoulder, and was astounded by what he saw.

The page Miranda had up was a riot of color, with drapes down the walls and between ceiling beams, and a long table through the center of the floor that was covered in food in a buffet style. The room was a 3d version of the Normandy's mess hall.

"Miranda, is _this_ what you had in mind? That's absolutely amazing! I see some things that I would change though, considering our guests." She looked at him for a second before she replied.

"Shepard, this is _your_ party, I'm just giving you an outline. What should we change?"

He thought about it for a few moments, then lowered himself to his knees beside her chair, still looking at the screen as he pointed out things to change.

"The drapes, I think a few should be swapped out with a dark red with Clan Urdnot's symbol, then I'd make the overhead ones Tali's purple color. Maybe have a larger border on the buffet table for different aminos… but aside from that Miranda, this is perfect! How long do you think it will take? Can I help?" Miranda seemed to swell up a little at his comment as she answered.

"No I don't think you could help, it's mostly just getting the supplies and waiting. I'm paying for it personally so don't worry about the cost, as to-"

"Your paying for it all? Miranda, I can't let you do that, this all must cost a pretty penny and I know your not rich." He knew he wouldn't feel comfortable with someone paying for his wedding ceremony. Especially if it was as expensive as this no doubt was.

"Shepard please, it's my gift to you for your wedding day. And money wise, I'm much better off than you seem to think. The illusive man paid me well, and I rarely spent anything that wasn't for the mission. Now as I was saying, with the additions you've made, I think I can set this up within the week." Shepard realized his mouth was hanging open and snapped it shut.

"Within the week? How?" Miranda laughed a little as his voice almost squeaked.

"Don't worry about it Shepard, I have all that under control. Besides, it needs to be that fast or else someone on the invitation list might leave. A lot of species have decided to try what we are doing and just fly FTL to their own worlds." Shepard just shook his head in awe at her supply gathering genius.

"Well sounds like you have it about wrapped up. Thank you Miranda, I wouldn't be able to spoil my girl like this without you." His grin covered his whole face as he left her quarters to go join Tali in getting drunk.


	24. All Work And No Play

Sorry this one took so long guys, but im trying to make this party the best it can possibly be, as it is something bioware shouldve added in EC. So the next chapter could take a couple days, depending on how fast the ideas come to me. and keep those reviews comin! they are a writers life line.

All Work And No Play

Shepard woke up to Tali jumping on the bed next to him, her mask off so he could see her exuberant smile.

"Wake up John! How can you sleep in on a day like this?" He cracked one eye open to give her a very sleepy grin.

"Easy, when I know I have the most amazing woman alive next to me." He yawned after he spoke, and Tali stopped bouncing; her head cocked slightly before she slid down to lay on his chest. The feel of her body on his stirred him, but he restrained himself.

"Well it's almost time for the guests to start arriving, and I'm pretty sure Miranda's edict to stay here until nine is no longer in effect." He blinked at her, then glanced over at his clock on the nightstand. 9:45.

_Damn, I didn't think I __**could**__ sleep in this late._ His military lifestyle usually kept him from sleeping in past eight at the latest. _Though come to think of it, I __**was**__ pretty damn comfortable_. He remembered having Tali's arm around his shoulders as he hauled her back to the cabin last night, Letting her sleep it off on the bed rather than a bar stool. Kasumi had just shrugged when he came in to find Tali essentially incoherent with her head down on the counter, and the wine bottle she had picked out a few days ago almost completely empty. And yet there she was, up bright and early and jumping on the bed as if she hadn't had a drop last night.

"Alright, alright. I'm up." He gently cupped her chin with one hand as he said it, then she moved off of him to let him up. With a groan he threw the covers back and started the morning ritual of a shower before finding his scattered clothes. Once accomplished, he got to work getting them on as he watched Tali stare into the fish tank. She was leaning against the wall next to the tank, watching the fish swim around lazily without a care in the world as he finished clothing himself and walked up behind her. Taking one shoulder in each hand, he started working his thumbs over her muscles, eliciting a contented sigh.

"You smell great by the way, did you put something special on for the occasion?" Tali just groaned in response as he continued rubbing her shoulders. He did this for a while until interrupted by a call on his omnitool. She growled a little as he took his hands away to answer the call.

"Shepard, it's Miranda. All the guests are on their way with the exception of Jacob, who says he'll be a little late."

"Wonderful, can I assume we are allowed down now?" he smirked as he thought about being confined to his cabin by his first mate.

"Of course. Everything is ready Shepard, come on down." Nodding, he closed the link and took Tali by the hand, leading her to the elevator. He slapped the button for the CIC and looped his hands around Tali's stomach from behind. They had to go here first to meet the guests, as the cargo hold was far too full to accept any shuttles. The shuttles would have to dock and let their occupants go, and then immediately take off to allow the next group to board. He didn't like that his friends would have to wait in line like that, but there was nothing for it.

When the elevator opened he found his eyes were bulging as he looked around. There were banners and drapes just like in the plan for the crew deck, but the fact that she'd done it for this deck as well was a complete surprise. Every couple of banners were the Urdnot clan markings and Alliance insignias, making the entire room lit red and blue. There were a few crewmen along either approach from the U shaped room, all in their Navy blue dress uniforms, most talking with each other but a few straightened up when they saw him approach.

"Sir!" One snapped a salute when Shepard made eye contact.

"What are you all doing in dress uniforms? This is a party! Wait, let me guess. Miranda told you there was going to be foreign dignitaries and you should be an honor guard?" He sighed as the man nodded, but extended his hand for a shake.

"I appreciate this, it means a lot to us that you would take our union so seriously."

"Of course sir, you're the best damn soldier I've ever seen, and an amazing leader. It's a privilege to be here for you." Nodding his thanks, he retook Tali's hand and walked along beside her toward the airlock.

"John, this is amazing! You said Miranda set all this up?" She looked around with a hint of wonder, her eyes darting as she tried to take it all in.

"She sure did, said it was her wedding gift to us."

As they neared the airlock, they could hear Joker laughing and EDI's cool voice coming from the cockpit.

"Ok my turn. How many Mechanics does it take to change a light bulb?" Shepard could only shake his head as Joker swapped his joke with EDI. _At least he has someone besides me to tell all those ridiculous jokes to,_

"I don't know, how many?"

"Three. One to scratch his butt, one to order the wrong part, and one more to tell you it won't be here until Tuesday." EDI sat emotionless for a moment before speaking.

"I see, the joke being the stereotype of mechanics as lazy and inefficient." Joker palmed his forehead and sighed, but straightened out as he heard them approaching.

"Ah! Um, Commander! Hey, fancy seeing you here!"

"You can tell jokes all day Joker, so long as it doesn't interfere with the ships performance." Shepard's reassurance didn't seem to faze him though.

"I don't care if you seeing me telling jokes, but I do care when someone could hear how bad she is at getting them. I need to get Garrus back up here, he's got some pretty good ones." Joker's face turned thoughtful as if thinking he should do just that.

"Well Vega should be here soon, you can tell him the one about why the Alliance hires crippled pilots." Joker shot him a dirty look but EDI spoke first.

"There's a joke about Jeff?"

"Well sure! Garrus said it was making the rounds thorough out the Turian military." Shepard grinned as Joker gave a heavy sigh and turned back to his instruments.

"Speaking of James, I got an ID on his shuttle. Looks like it's due in about eight minutes, right after Wrex." Shepard gave a snort of amusement then moved closer to the dash.

"Wrex is first huh? Why am I not surprised?" He squinted a little as Joker brought up a map of their surrounding area in space, marking incoming shuttles with small white dots and nametags. His eyes widened suddenly as he felt a hand on his bottom. _That had better be who I think it is._ Turning his head slowly, he heard Tali giggle as she dropped her hand from his rear.

"He gave me the idea." She nodded over her shoulder towards Garrus, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a grin on his face.

"Yes because it was _me _staring so intently right? Of course." Garrus drenched that with so much sarcasm that Shepard couldn't help but laugh.

"Sorry Garrus, I'm taken." He reached out and swatted Tali on the rear in retaliation, eliciting a short squeal. She rubbed her behind and narrowed her eyes at him, but Joker cut off whatever she was about to say.

"Sorry to interrupt the game of grab ass, but Wrex's shuttle should be docking any second." Shepard gave Tali a apologetic shrug and went to stand next to Garrus against the wall, ensuring there was room for the Krogan about to enter. They stood with their backs against the wall looking at the airlock entrance in anticipation, but he had to smile as Tali moved in front of him and leaned back against him, her head just under his chin.

Before long the airlock door slid open to admit that old scarred and leathery face, Urdnot Wrex. He bellowed a laugh and spread his arms wide as he stepped onto the Normandy.

"Shepard you pyjak you! I was wondering how long it would take you to bond with her." As he came in further they saw Grunt step out from behind him.

"Wrex! Grunt! Glad you guys could make it!" Garrus moved off the wall to grab Wrex's forearm to bump shoulders with him heavily.

"Shepard!" Grunt shouldered past Wrex and gave Tali just enough time to jump out of the way before giving him a bear hug that lifted him off the ground. Shepard could tell he was being careful not to squeeze to hard, but "too hard" would have killed him and he still felt the air leave his lungs before the massive Krogan set him back down on the deck.

"Good… to see you guys too." He said hoarsely. Wrex slapped him on the back with a laugh, making it even harder to regain his breath. _Typical, even a Krogan __**greeting**__ can kill you._

"You know, you should've put the moves on her back on the first Normandy Shepard. Everyone could see you wanted to, and I mean _everybody."_ Wrex just laughed again as Tali put a hand to her visor in total embarrassment.

"Thanks for the advice Wrex, but I'm ok with things the way they are." He winked as he reached out to Tali and she took his hand, taking up a spot next to him.

Wrex gave a slightly nauseated look before turning to Garrus.

"Is it always like this?" He jerked his head in their direction and Garrus nodded sadly.

"_Always_." Wrex shook his head and put an arm around Garrus' shoulder.

"Come on, let's go find the bar so I can drink you under the table." They continued toward the elevator, each boasting to the other about their alcohol intake. Shepard watched them until they entered the elevator, then noticed Grunt hadn't left.

"You aren't going with them Grunt?"

"No, I'll stay." He stood with his back straight, eyes looking forward.

"We were just going to greet everyone Grunt, we'll be heading down in a little while anyway. Besides, I thought you'd want to check out the Buffet." The Krogan's head snapped to look at him as he finished.

"Buffet?"

"Yep, we even made sure we had enough to accommodate _you_." Shepard just smiled at him as he watched him try and choose between staying with his battle master and eating.

"Ah you'll be fine, I'm gonna go eat." He trudged off toward the elevator, leaving just Tali, Joker and EDI again.

"Well that was bracing, ready for round two? James' shuttle just arrived." Joker's words were punctuated by a thump as the shuttle made contact with the airlock. Joker rolled his eyes and muttered, "He must be driving it too" before he turned back to the console in front of him. They waited until the lock opened to reveal Vega sauntering up from his shuttle, wearing his standard white tee and pants with a lazy smile across his face.

"Hey Loco, Congratulations on marrying Sparks, she's a damn fine woman." He shook his hand then turned to face Tali.

"I got a little somethin' for you sparks, it's tradition to give a gift to the newly weds." He pulled out a small wrapped box and handed it to her, then looked around with a frown.

"Hey where's everyone else? I know I'm not the first."

"They already moved on to the bar Vega, but try not to drink too hard this early alright?"

"No promises Loco, I'll see you down there." As he moved off toward the elevator, Joker swiveled back around to face him and Tali.

"So you gonna open it now or later?" Tali didn't respond at first, as she was still turning the box in her hands.

"It's really light whatever it is. When should we open it John?" She bounced on the balls of her feet in excitement as she asked. _Damn I love it when she does that._

"Up to you gorgeous. It's a gift for you, so you can open it whenever you like." Tali practically squealed in excitement as she began to carefully unwrap the box.

"Tali, you do know that you can just tear that off right?" She gave him a shocked look as she replied.

"But he put so much effort into wrapping it! I can't just tear it, that'd be rude." Shepard just shook his head and looked at the ceiling as she continued to unwrap the box.

"Shepard, we now have a queue lining up at the airlock." EDI distracted them from Vega's gift, and Joker added to her statement.

"She's right Commander, there's a whole ton of company coming. At least five shuttles are less than five minutes away." He looked at Tali, who returned his stare, then looked back down and immediately flung the lid off the box to see what was in it.

"Shepard, it's beautiful!" Tali lifted a gold necklace fitted with rubies out of the box, looking at it with awe.

"It sure is." He certainly wasn't looking at the necklace when he said that.

She stared at it for a moment longer before lifting it over her head and draping it over her shoulders.

You look absolutely amazing Tali, that chain matches your suit perfectly." He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her closer to rest his forehead against her visor.

"Am I interrupting something?" Tali jumped off of him to face Liara, who smiled as she exited the airlock. She wore a flowing light blue dress that went to her ankles and had what appeared to be another present under one arm.

"Liara! Um, no you weren't interrupting anything, it's good to see you!" Tali gave her a hug and Liara gave Shepard a wink over her shoulder.

"It's good to see you too Tali, and you as well Shepard. Congratulations both of you."

She reached out to hand her gift to Shepard, and he took notice of a few details as he grabbed it. It was about two feet tall and four wide, it was also moderately heavy.

"I did a little research and discovered humans give gifts on bonding days, so I decided to get you two something." As she started to back up from handing her gift over she stopped, squinting at Tali's hand.

"Oh my. Tali, is that a diamond ring?" Tali looked down as if to confirm it herself before she lifted her hand for Liara to inspect.

"Yes it is. Shepard gave it to me when he asked me to walk the path with him, isn't it amazing?" Liara continued staring at it as she answered.

"Yes, very. Where did you even get this?" Liara directed her question to Shepard, who just shrugged.

"You'd need to ask Miranda, I'm not entirely sure."

"I see." She gave Tali her hand back and opened her mouth to speak but the sound of the airlock opening cut her off.

"Congratulations blah blah, can I assume this party has alcohol?" Jack strode in with her new "teaching appropriate attire" and her interesting hair do which was slightly more grown out since he'd last seen it. She looked between the three with a questioning grin.

"Blunt as ever Jack, but yes you can, everyone else is down on the crew deck."

"You drinking with the rest of us Shepard?"

"No not this time Jack, but I think you and Wrex are a damn good match when it comes to alochol." She snorted in way that said, "We'll see about that" then moved down the walkway to the elevator.

"I suppose I should head down there too. Don't take too long up here, it'd be a shame to miss your own party." Liara gave a heart-warming smile before following Jack.

The morning continued on this way for a while, the newly weds receiving gifts which they eventually had to call for someone to take away before they crowded the airlock. Old crewmates and allies all giving congratulations as they piled into the Normandy. It was about noon when the last shuttle began to arrive, the dot that showed it indicated it was his mother's shuttle. He frowned slightly, as Admiral Raan hadn't yet arrived and no other shuttles were currently on trajectory for the Normandy.

"We did get confirmation on Admiral Raan didn't we?" Tali nodded but her voice sounded nervous.

"Yes, but maybe something came up with the fleet?"

"Well let's greet my mom then we'll call the fleet." Tali just nodded, the concern in her eyes was obvious to him.

_If they try and haul her away for something on today of all days then so help me I'll-_

"Last shuttle docking now Shepard." EDI pulled him from his thoughts and he refocused his mind. It wouldn't do to greet his mom with a look of pure murder on his face.

As the airlock doors slid apart he gave a heavy sigh of relief, as standing next to his mother was Admiral Raan. _Wait, why were they on the same shuttle? That can't be good news._

"John! Oh it's good to see you baby. And you too love." She hugged both of them as Raan spoke.

"Yes it's good to see you both, though I regret that I can't stay for long."

"I understand Admiral, and to be frank, it's probably for the best. The people at this party are… rough. But I wanted you to be here and see Tali and I as a couple before we left for Rannoch." The Admiral's expression didn't change, but His mother's certainly did.

"What exactly do you mean by "rough" John?" he smiled and put his hands up in defense.

"Well when you travel the galaxy looking for fighters, you take all kinds. We have a couple Krogan and a few more who lack manners, so be warned." His mother gave a disapproving frown but then laughed.

"You always did make friends everywhere you went, well Shala, shall we continue our conversation?"

"Of course Hannah. Can I assume, Shepard, that the rest of the guests are one deck down?"

"You may Admiral, we'll show you the way." He felt Tali hook an arm through his and he walked just in front of the other two as they entered the elevator.

_Let the festivities begin. _He chuckled at the thought.


	25. Games, Food And Alcohol

_Hey there ladies and gentlemen! hope you enjoy my thoughts on how the reunion party should've gone, though i'm afraid i'll be gone for a few days so no frequent updates like your used to. and without further adu, i give you..._

Games Food And Alcohol

Shepard exited the elevator to be greeted by the sounds of loud music and shouts of laughter. There was a loud sounding techno beat, which reminded him strongly of Aria's "afterlife" club music, and the yells of people cheering someone on at something.

_Looks like the party is already in full swing, better find out just what they're betting on._

Waiting for Tali's reassuring nod, he then walked around the wall separating the hallway that the elevator exited onto from the mess hall. The sight that greeted him was one that he would never forget as long as he lived. The majority of his friends seemed to be on either side of one table in the mess hall, cheering loudly to be heard over the music. Some, like Jack, already had drinks in hand. While still others were shoving food into their mouths as they watched the two sitting on opposite ends of the table.

On one end was Zaeed, who had a very concentrated look on his face, as he stared across at Aria, both had their arms locked in an arm-wrestling match. Aria had a face of stone, not letting any emotion show as she held his arm in check. Shepard could see beads of sweat on Zaeed's face as he continued to concentrate on Aria, but he showed no sign of losing just yet.

"Come on you old geezer! Shut her down!" Jack shouted above the rest and threw some more of her drink back as she did.

"Come on Aria, I know your stronger than this, take him down!" Wrex was practically shouting right in her ear but she didn't pay him any attention, she just kept staring Zaeed down and keeping her arm level. Shepard noticed Garrus off to the side with a smug grin and started to head over when Tali pulled him back.

"I'm going to go find Kasumi ok? Have fun now." She squeezed his hand with affection then took his mother and Admiral Raan with her to the lounge. He watched them until they turned the corner, then continued on to where Garrus was standing with his arms crossed.

"Glad you could finally make it Shepard, you've missed out on a couple good matches so far."

"Oh yeah? Like who?"

"Like Wrex and Grunt, Jack and Samara… I tried to make it Jack and Miranda but, well, you know." He had to laugh at that last one, Jack and Miranda would likely rather skip the wrestling and get straight to the fighting.

"How'd they turn out?"

Well I believe Samara won her bout, but mostly because Jack is half drunk already. And as for Wrex and Grunt, well the little guy's got quite an arm on him, but Wrex still managed to beat him."

"Old age and treachery beats youth and exuberance every time." Garrus just laughed and nodded his head, both turning to watch the match.

"Can I assume you're the bookie for this little event?" Shepard practically had to shout for Garrus to understand him.

"If by bookie you mean, "holding all the money" then yes. You know I gotta say Shepard, this room turned out really great." Garrus took his eyes from the fight to look around at all the decorations, his eyes lingering on the buffet table.

"Yeah Miranda really went all out didn't she? But you know what? I still get the feeling that something's missing…" going to his omnitool, he quickly brought up some music more to his taste. Tapping a few buttons to link his omnitool to the stereo system. Shepard waited a few seconds with his finger hovering over the play button, watching Garrus give him a confused look, before he brought his finger down. Suddenly the club like music stopped and was replaced by his own playlist. The first on his list was a very old pre-space song, Black Betty by Spiderbait. The reaction amongst the party varied immensely, Aria broke her eye contact with Zaeed as she looked around with a confused glare, only just barely stopping him from taking her down.

"You got good taste Shepard, I'll end you yet you hag." Zaeed had a smile now as Aria was struggling to take back lost ground.

The others seemed to mostly enjoy it, with a few exceptions. Grunt was indifferent, still stuffing his face at the buffet, whilst Jack eyes lit up and she started to bob her head. Miranda simply compressed her lips to thin line. _Well what kind of host would I be if I didn't have something for everyone? _His grin made Garrus raise an eyebrow at him, but he waited for the end of the song before making the switch yet again. This time it was Long Tall Sally, by Little Richard. Shortly after it started a chorus of cheers and aggravated groans came from the betters as Aria's arm thudded into the table. Aria simply shook her head as Zaeed stood up with both arms raised over his head in victory. Slowly the betters all shuffled over to get their money from Garrus, who apparently had bet on Zaeed.

"How'd you know he would win?" Shepard waited for Garrus to finish handing out money, and then the Turian finally faced him.

"At first I was looking at weight and arm muscles. But apparently Aria doesn't apply to those, as she really held her own. But thanks to _you,_ it still paid off." He laughed before he replied.

"Me? I was just adding a little more life to the party."

"Life?" Aria had gotten up from the table and was almost to them when she spoke up.

"If I wanted to listen to crappy music I would've stayed on earth, whatever that noise was lost me ten credits." Her glare switched from Shepard to Zaeed as he walked up behind her.

"Don't go finding excuses you bloody harpy, I won fair and square." Aria turned fully to face him before responding.

"And what, exactly, did you win?" Shepard frowned in confusion for a second. _Did I just hear a hint of… flirting? No, of course not. _But he continued to frown as Zaeed feigned indifference.

"Handful of credits and bragging rights. Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I see a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with my name on It." he sauntered over to the buffet table and left them looking around at the rest of the party in silence. After a minute or so, Garrus spoke up.

"Well it looks like it's lunch time Shepard, wagers on who finishes first?"

"You're on Vakarian, I'll bet five on… Samara. What about you?" He looked back to see who he would pick but found him missing.

"Garrus?" He looked around and saw him at one of the tables, already scarfing down a plate of something Turian friendly. Laughing, he decided it was time to catch up and win the bet. _You're__ goin down Vakarian._

* * *

Tali sat on the couch in the lounge, listening to the music from the other room drift through the doors. Auntie Raan was beside her talking with Hannah about various things, like her and Shepard's childhood, or the fleet's condition, etcetera. But Tali just ignored most of it; they weren't really talking to her anyway. Kasumi stood behind the bar again, looking over the shelf of alcohol for something she might like. So Tali just sunk into the couch a little more and enjoyed relaxing with the music. There had been a dramatic shift in the music from the previous tracks in the last five minutes or so, but she liked the sound of the new songs too. Every now and then she'd hear the sounds of laughter or a chorused "aww" as the old gang mixed with the new. She was relieved when Shepard walked through the door, carrying a plate of food paste tubes in a neat and precise row, but more interestingly, he was covered in food.

"Hello my dear, I took the liberty of bringing you lunch." He bowed slightly, in what she took for his imitation of a butler.

"It looks like I missed the fun, who did you make angry at you?" she looked down at his shirt which was covered in what she assumed was human food, some runny looking purple juice, a smear of something yellow across his chest and a big splotch of ground up meat near his right shoulder.

"Oh this? We uh, had a bit of a food fight." His face turned a little red as he saw the look his mother gave him from the couch. She thought she heard him mumble, "Wrex started it." before he handed her the plate and took a seat on the couch between her and Hannah.

Hannah just snorted and scooted over to give him more room.

"Hey! Don't sit on my couch with all that stuff on you!" Kasumi finally had her drink in her hand and was moving around the counter with a stern expression.

"_Your_ couch? I'll have you know I own this entire ship."

"Right, and I happen to live in this part of it, so get out of _my _couch until you clean all that off." He threw up his hands in surrender before pushing himself back off the couch with a grunt. Kasumi nodded in satisfaction as he walked over to the bar and grabbed some napkins.

"I was unaware Human vessels were so… hectic." Raan shook her head a little as she watched Shepard attempt to wipe the grime off of himself.

"Well normally they aren't Shala, but my boy here is a Spectre after all, so he can run his ship however he sees fit."

"I see, and does this extend as well to how he runs a house?" She looked at Tali as she finished.

"No, no it won't Auntie Raan. The house will be far more organized than this. Right Shepard?" She heard him grumble something that she took for a yes.

"Damn right, I didn't raise you in a barn boy. I'm sorry I didn't stop him before he sat Kasumi, I wasn't thinking clearly." She lifted her wine glass and swirled it a little to show why.

"It's fine Hannah, I'm really just giving him a hard time. He's usually quite cleanly, he even had a decontamination chamber installed to his cabin." Admiral Raan made a noise in her helmet that sounded like she spat her drink out of her nose as Kasumi finished. After a few moments Raan regained her voice.

"He what?" _Oh no, here it comes. _She put her head in her hands, practically shaking with embarrassment.

"You had a decon unit put in your cabin?" Raan's voice sounded strangled, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Well sure, I don't want Tali to be stuck in her suit any longer than she needs to be. Plus, how else could I see that gorgeous smile everyday?" He had the gall to wear a grin as he announced to the world that they could have sex whenever they wanted.

"You misunderstand me Shepard, that is the sweetest thing I have ever heard. In the fleet, if one wanted to be with their bondmate they would need to request time within one of the few decontaminated rooms on the ship, as it was far too expensive to have one installed for each individual like that. I envy you Tali." Raan reached across the couch and patted Tali's knee as she concluded, and Tali grabbed it with a squeeze, but was cut off before she could respond.

"Hey hey! There's the girl of the hour!" Garrus strode through the doors with most of the crew in tow behind him.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I promised Vega I would give him a rematch at poker." He and a few others went to the bar first for drinks, then thanked Kasumi before going to the card table. Tali had just uncorked her food tube when Shepard finally got done wiping himself off and walked toward her.

"Hey gorgeous, would you like to accompany me to the poker game?" he held his hand out for her, but she had to decline.

"I can't Shepard, I'm eating."

"I said accompany me, not play against me." His hand was still extended toward her and she finally took it, a small smile on her face as he led her to the table. He sat first, then pulled her on top of him so she could rest against his chest. Tali had absolutely no idea how to play this "poker" but she did her best to learn. It was hard to concentrate on the game though, as she was trying to contain her laughter at the remnants of the food fight.

Garrus still had a huge glob of something smeared over his back, and Grunt's face was mostly white with what appeared to be cake frosting. The best one though, was Ashley Williams, her entire front was covered in various colors and sludge.

"Ok, I have to ask. Ash, how did you manage to get completely covered in food?" Ashley rolled her eyes and sighed, but gave the story.

"Dingus here thought it would be funny to push me out from cover when the entire ship apparently decided to throw their food at the same time." She nudged Garrus, who was sitting next to her.

"What can I say, it was the perfect opportunity."

"I can't believe I fought with you once."

"You looked hungry, I thought I was helping."

"Would you two shut up? I'm here to take your money, not shoot the shit." Jack grabbed the deck in frustration and started shuffling and dealing. As the game progressed, Tali thought she started catching a few rules of the game, but held back from really participating.

"What do you think beautiful? Should I go all in?" He spread his cards in front of her, waiting on her answer.

"Shepard, I don't really know how to play." He just shook his head not buying it.

"Come on Tali, I know you've been watching and your way to inquisitive not to try and learn. So what do you think?" She wanted to kiss him right there and then, but just looked down at the cards instead. The cards were all the same color, and had the same little symbols at the corners. _A… suit. Isn't that what they kept calling them?_ They all had faces of on them except for two of the five. One that had a large Human letter on it, and another had many little symbols on it with a number. Feeling incredibly nervous that she would cost him money, she just nodded to him.

"Alright folks, my good luck charm has called it! I'm all in." he moved his chips forward and put his cards on the table face down.

"Damn Shepard, you finally get out of the crap cards?" Jack threw her cards down, a fold. Everyone but Zaeed did the same, but the old merc just looked at him for a minute.

"Yea I'll risk it, you're full of shit Shepard. I see your 20." He put all his chips in as well and waited for Shepard to concede, a small smile on his lips.

"Well I'll grant you I am full of it, but I'm not lying. Read um and weep." He reached across her hips and turned all his cards face up, making everyone at the tables eyes widen.

"Well jump on my back and call me an Elcor." Zaeed shook his head and slapped his cards face down, not even bothering to show them.

"Still the luckiest damn human I ever met." Wrex rumbled from across the table.

Tali glanced around for a second, then looked back at Shepard with her eyes wide.

"Did we win?" He smiled so warmly that she felt her heart start to burst

"You bet we did, that's a royal flush. Best hand in the game." She squealed and squirmed in his lap with excitement before putting her helmet under his chin.

"Good luck charm hmm?" She teased.

"Oh yeah." He looked around the table seeing everyone relaxing and chatting before the next game, but frowned. Bringing up his omnitool, she watched him in confusion as he put a call in to Joker.

"Hey Commander, having fun down there?"

"We would be, if you were down here with us. What's takin' you?" Shepard's question made Joker rub the back of his neck as he answered.

"Well knowing the guests, it seemed a little too rough for me. But if you insist, EDI and I can head down. Some of that buffet looked delicious." He looked to the side as if looking for her approval, before looking back.

"Of course I insist! It wouldn't be a party without you and EDI." Joker nodded and started to turn but stopped himself.

"Oh yeah, Jacob called and said he wouldn't be making it."

"Huh, that's odd. Oh well, I'm sure Kasumi will forgive him." Joker laughed as he cut the link.

Shepard carefully lifted her off his lap, allowing him to get up. Stretching his back and throwing his hands up he addressed the assembled guests.

"So, who feels like dancing?" A couple of groans passed around the table, but a few got up to join him.

"Shepard, if I've told you once I've told you a thousand times. You. Cant. Dance." Ashley's comment had the whole party laughing, but he wasn't deterred.

"Well my love, would you care to learn a human dance?" he once again offered his arm, allowing her to wrap around it with both arms as she leaned on him.

"What dance would that be Shepard?" he smiled briefly as he motioned for Kasumi to come over. She crossed the room from the bar with a confused look on her face, but quickly nodded in understanding.

"Kasumi, I'd like to do the two step with my girl here, can you find me appropriate music?" she walked back toward the bar and worked her omnitool, and after a few seconds slow, enchanting music started drifting from the speakers.

"Take your left hand and put it here, then just follow my lead, ok?" His voice mixed with the music gave Tali chills, but she did as instructed. She felt Shepard put an arm around her waist, and a big smile bloomed on his face as they slowly started to move back and forth. She never looked away from his face, as they swirled around the middle of the lounge to the hauntingly beautiful music. _I didn't know humans even had music like this, I thought it was all that loud and screeching stuff._ She was glad to be wrong.

They danced slow like that for a long time, but it felt like moments to her before someone tapped her shoulder.

"Might I have this dance my dear?" Hannah Shepard gave her a light hug as she reluctantly turned from Shepard, then she moved in and started to dance with him as she had been. John gave her a wink before they turned and danced off. She realized suddenly that there were other people dancing, EDI and Joker had finally made in down, and were doing the same dance her and Shepard had done, actually everyone who was dancing did the same one. There was Wrex and Aria, both looking at each other with amused smiles, then there was Ashley and Vega, she also saw Liara still by the card table trying to convince Garrus to dance. Even Doctor Chakwas was in the room, taking the seat Hannah had left next to Auntie Raan. Tali stood on the sidelines, watching everyone else dance. _This feels familiar. I've been left out. Again._

"Hey there girl, you look a little down, care to dance?" Kasumi stood beside her, looking at her with a smidgeon of concern, but Tali just wanted to hug her. _No matter what gets me down, there's always someone here to help me, who cares about me. This truly is home._

"I would love to."

* * *

Shepard waltzed around the room, his mother smiling at him as she had when she'd taught him this dance.

"You know John, she really is something special. Such a nice girl, and her aunt is interesting to talk with as well."

"Yes I noticed you two spending a lot of time together." He asked his questions and used his child hood skill of half listening to his mother. His eyes were focused on Tali as she and Kasumi danced on the opposite side of the room. Her graceful movements, the sway of her hips as she moved side to side, was worse than hypnotic.

"She was telling me about the fleet traditions and customs on the way here, even a little about the Geth but- John? Are you even listening to me?"

"Hmm? Sure I'm listening, she was telling you about the fleet." His mother gave him a most unpleasant glare before her eyes moved to something past him. Turning to look he saw Admiral Raan standing a little ways behind him.

"I'm not entirely sure what the proper way to ask is, but could I switch with you Hannah?" His mother just snorted.

"I think you'd better, I'm about to smack him." she gave him a faint smile before handing him to Raan.

"Pleasure to see you Admiral, I hope you like our music." It was a weak conversation starter, but I seemed to work.

"I do, we have music much like it. Although all of our songs have words to them." He thought about it for a moment, but didn't ask why. This didn't seem like the time for a culture lesson. The Admiral just continued dancing for a while before she made another attempt to talk.

"Your mother is a wonderful person Shepard, and you seem like a good pair for my Tali. I just wanted you to know, that I'm glad she found you, and you her." The Admiral gave a small bow before leaving to resume her place on the couch. He stood there for a moment, looking at the other pairs still dancing, but Wrex caught his eye and moved toward him.

"Just found out something interesting about Aria, Shepard. You remember that Asari commando the Volus hired me to kill?" he nodded in her direction.

"You're kidding." His incredulous expression got the Krogan laughing.

"Small galaxy, ain't it? Anyway I just thought that you might find it as funny as I did." His old face scanned the crowd of people dancing, then sighed as he turned back to Shepard.

"Sure wish Bakara was here for this." Shepard put an arm on his friends shoulder.

"You'll see her soon Wrex, just hang in there." Wrex just nodded, but didn't get to respond as Kasumi's voice could be heard over the PA.

"This one's a personal favorite, hope you enjoy." The slow music had come to a stop, and she quickly replaced it with a more club type beat. Allowing people who actually knew how to dance, do so. Jack finally got up from the card table and started to dance a little, drink still in hand. Liara had Garrus out on the floor finally, but she was still doing most the dancing by herself. _Apparently dancing is something __**every **__Asari is good at._ He was pulled form his thoughts by Wrex's deep voice.

"Hell of a party you threw here Shepard, maybe when they rebuild the relays we can show you how we party on Tuchanka. But I think it's about time we got moving, my men and I want to go home as soon as possible." Shepard reached out and shook his friends hand as warmly as he could.

"I understand Wrex, and I hope you get there quickly."

"Thanks Shepard, for everything. Oh and I'll need to take Grunt and the Quarian with me, we're borrowing their ships for this trip." He looked toward Grunt, who was leaning against a wall near the card table snd raised his voice.

"Come on Whelp, let's get moving." Everyone turned at the sound of his voice and registered what he meant, then came flooding over to them.

"You're leaving?"

"It was good to see you Wrex."

"Give me a call once in a while ok?" the flurry of goodbyes and well wishes caught the big Krogan slightly off guard, but he adapted quickly and raised his voice.

"Thanks everyone, it's been fun but we got a schedule to keep. Admiral Raan, will you be coming back with us to the fleet?" She looked at Hannah then Tali in turn, and then nodded.

"Yes, I think I will, Urdnot Wrex. And thank you."

The party slowly wound down after Wrex left; with people remembering their duties and responsibilities they too had to leave. Not too long after there was only a handful of people left aboard, both Joker and EDI left for the bridge. Even his mother had had to leave early after giving them both loving hugs and warm smiles.

the few who brought presents stayed to watch them be opened. The engineers Ken and Gabby had finally come out from their rooms, having stayed in earlier due to not feeling like partying. At least, that's what they claimed.

"Go ahead Commander, open up a couple o' them buggers." Ken pointed to the stack of boxes piled off to the side of the mess hall. Liara walked over to it and grabbed one off the top, setting it on the table at which they sat, and gave another of her warm smiles as she did so. This one was from Ashley.

He ripped off the wrapping, earning a slight hiss from Tali, to find a medium sized box, again wrapped. He undid the wrapping again to find yet another smaller box wrapped in yet more paper.

"What is this?" he looked at Ashley in confusion but she simply smiled and told him to keep going. He eventually got down to a box about the size of his palm, and flung open the lid to find a credit chit.

"It's got 10,000 credits on it Shepard, Hackett and I thought you could use a little help."

He laughed and gave her a hug,

"Oh I do need the help alright, building a dream home is no cheap thing. Thanks Ash, and tell Hackett I'll need to speak with him before we go." Ashley just nodded before she snapped a salute then left for the elevator. Liara watched her until she left, then grabbed another gift. This one was from Garrus, and was extremely heavy.

"Damn Garrus, what did you put in here boulders?" The Turian just laughed as Shepard unwrapped it then popped the box open to reveal a brand new Cain.

"May I present to you, the Cain – m1000, the new and improved version that allows for faster firing and less heavy ammo consumption." Garrus made a flourish as if unveiling something dramatic. Looking it over he noticed a few things were different about it, for one it had a different paint scheme, mostly black but still wearing the tell tale hazard symbol on it's middle. Along with it being generally smaller it had less visible components outside of its frame.

"Wow, I must say I'm impressed Garrus. Did you make this yourself?"

"You know it. What, you didn't think I spent _all _my time calibrating did you?" Shepard looked at Tali from the corner of his eye then back to Garrus, trying to contain his grin. He was saved of having to explain why he was laughing by Liara grabbing another present and setting it on the table in front of them.

"Why don't you get this one Gorgeous." He slid it more over to her side and watched her carefully unwrap it.

"It's from Liara! Now let's see…" she finally got all the wrapping off and grabbed the gift in both hands to set it up straight In front of her.

"Oh." Was all she said, but continued to stare at it.

"Tali? That looks like a picture frame from here, but what exactly are you looking at?" Tali slowly turned the frame to face him and the rest, allowing them to see a photo of him and Tali on Rannoch, forehead to helmet and a setting sun behind them.

"Oh wow… how did you get this Liara?" he felt a bit of wetness in his eyes, but blinked it out before anyone saw.

"I took it right after you killed that Reaper, it was quite possibly the most romantic moment I've ever witnessed, so I took a picture from the hatch of the escape vehicle Legion acquired." Tai was still speechless, so he thanked her himself.

"This is amazing Laira, I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything Shepard, I'm just glad you like it." Tali got up and circled the table to give Liara a strong hug, and her voice was slightly different due to her crying.

"Thank you, I'll treasure it always." Liara hugged her back and sat with Tali still crying softly. Gabby walked quietly to the last two presents and brought one over to him.

"This one says it's from Zaeed." Setting it on the table she walked over to the picture frame from Liara to admire it.

_Where __**is**__ Zaeed? I don't think I saw him leave._ Shrugging he opened the slightly larger box and found a large supply of pots and pans, silverware and other kitchen instruments with a small tag on the side of the box that said, "For your new home."

"Huh, I gotta say, this isn't what I pictured getting from Zaeed. But it's welcome all the same." He set the kitchen utensils aside and stood to get the last box himself, but froze when he saw the nametag.

"Is this someone's idea of a joke?" he pointed down at the last box and got nothing but confused stares, until EDI spoke up over the PA.

"No Shepard, that is not a joke. We found that in Doctor Solus' old possessions just after he died. He had a message attached to it that stated it should be given to you at your wedding." Shepard gave a confused frown, turning to look at the small box that said, "From Professor Solus."

"how would he have known we would get married?" he tried to find the logic trail but found nothing and waited for EDI's reply.

"It was obvious from long ago you loved Tali Commander. It stands to reason that should you both have lived through the Reapers, you would bond."

_Now that's thinking ahead. We sure do miss you down here Mordin._

"Maybe… maybe we should go Shepard." Garrus nodded before walking to the elevator, then the others took his cue and started saying last goodbyes, until once again the crew deck was empty save for him and Tali.

"Don't be strangers." He whispered after them.


	26. A Loving Apparition

A Loving Apparition

Shepard sat looking at the small box in his hand, turning it over and thinking about what it could contain. It had an interesting choice of wrapping, looking more like a police tape than wrapping paper. "STG eyes only" was stenciled over and over again like it was a roll of duct tape in red and yellow colors. The box was about the size of both his hands put together, maybe a bit larger, and had an interesting noise when he moved it around.

"Shepard? Are you ok?" Tali scooted closer to him over the bench at the table and he had to pry his eyes away from the mesmerizing motion of her hips to answer her.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Maybe we should open this in the cabin?" She nodded and stood up to follow him to the elevator. They were both quiet on the ride up, with their eyes lingering on the small box left by the eccentric scientist. As the elevator finally arrived on the top deck and the decontamination unit started up, Tali removed her mask and for once didn't jump at him with a kiss. She instead continued to cast sad glances between the gift and his face. They entered their cabin and ignored the mess that they had neglected to fix this morning, the glow from the fish tank casting Tali's features into the most amazing silhouette when they stopped by his desk. He sat heavily into his chair, and found his eyes drifting from hers to the box. He sat looking at it for a while more than jumped a little as Tali was next to him in a flash.

"Maybe I can help?" She slowly put her hands next to his and started unwrapping the box. A sad smile came to him as he watched her hands gracefully travel over the wrapping; just thinking about Mordin always did that to him. Shaking off his melancholy he started to help her until together they took the lid off and looked inside.

He smiled for real this time, as he exchanged a look with Tali, who was just plain shocked. Inside was a small children's toy. A "Rattle," with a short handle and a bulbous top piece that gave a sound much like a rattlesnake when shook.

"This looks like something we give our children on the fleet." Tali's quiet voice startled a shock out of him.

"You mean your people have them too?" Tali's return look was also incredulous, but he just exhaled a laugh and moved the toy for what was partially hidden underneath. A small disk lay on the bottom of the box, and on top of it sat a tiny orange and white seashell. He carefully took the seashell and placed it on his desk, recalling his last conversation with Mordin as he did so. "_Would've liked to run tests on the seashells." _Taking a deep breath he took his hand off the shell before he crushed it in his anguish. Tali put a hand on his arm before she sat next to him, her presence the only thing keeping him from breaking down completely. He put a hand on hers and squeezed in thanks before reaching down for the disk. It was a small thing, about half the size of his palm, and was far too small to be put in any systems he knew of.

"EDI, what kind of disk is this? And where can we play it?" the AI's hologram popped up as soon as he finished.

"That is a specialized disk that professor Mordin asked me to create before you both left for Tuchanka. It will only play from one of my hologram projectors located on this ship."

He shot a glance at Tali, then got up and walked over to the AI projector to look for an input. After a moment of searching he pushed the disk into a small slot and backed up a few steps, feeling Tali wrap around one arm as she stepped up beside him. a small whirring sound came from the AI's box as it began to render what it was reading.

Mordin's slim frame slowly grew from a small dot into about a foot tall ethereal image of himself, his usual smile on his face.

"_Greetings Shepard, expect if you are seeing this, then I'm speaking posthumously. But that is not the point of this log, I expect that you and Tali Zorah are likely to bond if Reapers are defeated, but feel a need to point out that children are an impossibility. Could have corrected this if given enough time but, sadly, was not. In any case, I found a toy that the vast majority of species infants seem to enjoy in case you decide to adopt. Personally think Tali Zorah would be an excellent mother, but unclear as to whether that applies to a human child as well, will need to run more tests. _

_I made this log right after our conversation in the med bay, and I gave EDI instructions to give this to you on your bonding day, should I not survive Tuchanka. _

_I hope you find happiness Shepard, and be careful with the seashell, it was hard to find on such short notice." _

Mordin's image slowly faded to nothing as he finished, leaving Shepard speechless as he stared at the wall where the image was. _ I have found happiness Mordin, and thank you. _His thoughts drew his eyes to Tali, who was also staring at where the image had been. He drank in her features like a man dying of thirst, looking at her face, his knees almost buckled at her beauty; he couldn't help but reach out and wipe the silent tears from her cheeks. She slowly turned at his touch, looking up at him with those luminous eyes; before she finally rushed into him with a hug, unable to contain herself anymore. He held her and whispered softly as she cried into his shoulder, his words seeming to only make her hug him more fiercely.

After a long while, Tali eventually controlled her sorrow and stopped crying, just holding on to him instead. As he slowly rocked back and forth in his best attempt at a comforting motion, she eventually looked up at him.

"Do you think I'd be a good mother too?" the question made him look down at her. The tears were gone, replaced by a questioning frown. He made a face as if in deep thought, then slowly nodded.

"Yes I believe so, but then, who am I to argue with a geneticist about traits?" she smacked him in his ribs and he feigned being out of air, dragging her down to the floor with flailing arms and exaggerated gasping. His attempt to lighten her mood worked wondrously, as she laughed and rolled around on the floor with him in mock wrestling.

She pinned his legs together with her own more powerful ones and grabbed both his arms above his head with one hand.

_I could break free, but this is __**way**__ more fun_.

She put her face inches from his and ran her tongue along her lips; her eyes were half lidded as she spoke.

"Just what do I have to do to get an answer out of you?" he gave her his most mischievous smile as she reached downward.

"Well, if this is an interrogation, you should know I've lasted hours before talking."

"Prove it."

* * *

Kasumi walked the halls after the party, watching crewman taking down food stained curtains and banners as she looked for something interesting. She had wanted to see what Mordin's gift was, but the two had gone to Shep's cabin. She didn't want to go in there unless she could help it, it wouldn't do to walk in on what went on there. She had stumbled upon many people doing interesting things on her exploits as a thief: conspiracies, death notes, drug sales, illegal gun running, even the occasional arson or graffiti. But anything to do with nudity she avoided to the best of her ability. Not knowing what the gift was _did _bother her though. _I'll get it out of Tali eventually, in the mean time; I believe I saw Zaeed sneak out of here after Aria before everyone left._ She made sure her cloak was working as she made her way to the elevator to go to the engineering deck. As she arrived on the fourth deck she decided to try Zaeed's room first.

_He may be a complete jerk, but at least I know him. Best to leave Aria for later._

She took a right out of the elevator doors and deactivated her cloak before she opened his door. Remembering his reaction to her the first time she'd walked in cloaked, she always made sure she was uncloaked around his room. She noted the small hole in the wall next to the door where he'd thrown a knife at her thinking she was an assassin.

Stopping a few feet into the room to scan for him, she frowned at his absence. Her brows slowly rose as she thought about where else he might be.

_No way._ The thought kept repeating itself as she trotted back out and down the hall to the opposite door. She slowed as she neared the entrance but was still skeptical as she opened that door without knocking too. The scene in front of her would have been comical if she hadn't been so pop eyed and shocked.

Aria was sitting at a recently acquired table with two chairs, her face imperious as always, but with a hint of a smile. Sitting across from her was Zaeed, who was leaning over the table on his elbows with his hands clasped under his chin. Neither of them noticed her entrance as they stared at each other.

"Alright, what's the best way to piss off a Krogan?" Zaeed seemed frustrated as she answered him.

"Easy, threaten to separate his skull plate from his head with a knife. Used it once myself. Now what's the best way to distract a Batarian from political movements?" Aria leaned a little closer toward him over the table in expectation.

"Show him a group of humans talking and claim they're conspiring. What should you do to stop an Asari Justicar?"

"Make her choose between the life of an innocent, or stopping you from escape. How do you break into a series 5000 vault security system?" Zaeed opened his mouth but Kasumi interjected first, their heads whipping around as she did.

"You employ a tracer on the power lines for the laser grid to shut them down, then you hack the camera feeds to get a voice sample and depending on your situation or personal preference, beat or coerce the code out of the target vault's owner." Zaeed just shook his head in mild amusement at her sneaky antics, as he was used to them by now. But Aria had the blue glow of biotics around her and her hand had reached for a pistol that wasn't on her right then. Aria stared her down with a menacing glower before Zaeed reached over the table and touched Aria's arm.

"She's alright, kind of sneaky and eccentric, but alright." To Kasumi's amazement, Aria listened to him and the glow faded from her as she relaxed. Aria stared at her for a little longer, then looked back at Zaeed.

"I believe that concludes our little game, seeing as how you didn't answer for yourself hmm?" a tight smile on her face as Zaeed growled back at her.

"You sure about that you Minx? I don't recall any rules involving interruptions, now why don't we try again?" Kasumi looked back and forth in confused amusement. Of all the people she expected to make nice, these were not they.

"If you insist, but it merely delays your defeat." Aria's expression was one of complete arrogance to which Zaeed just snorted.

"What are the stakes of this game? Can I play?" Zaeed slapped his knee and gave a full-throated laugh at her question, but Aria just gave a small smile.

"I don't think you want what I'm playing for kid." Zaeed managed between laughs. Kasumi looked the question at Aria who rolled her eyes.

"This lump of a mercenary thought it would be fun to ask me on a date, so I figured I'd humor him and said if he could beat me, I'd go." Aria looked back over at him as she finished, but Kasumi continued to look hard at her. Kasumi was good at seeing emotions; it was critical in her line of work. The queen of Omega was very good at hiding her emotions, but she could see through her mask of indifference. There were subtle clues one had to look for, like if the eyes lingered on the other for to long, or how fully ones entry caught the others attention. She'd had ample training seeing the signs of love with Shepard and Tali before this as well, but right now Kasumi saw signs that Aria wasn't completely disinterested in Zaeed, she was just leading him on.

"Lump? I realize I'm not the prettiest guddam guy on this ship, but I _can_ beat the hell outta all of um." There was a pause as he saw the looks the two women gave him.

"Alright, **almost **all of um." Kasumi gave a little laugh before she decided to leave the two to their budding relationship.

"Ok, well I only stopped by to see where you two had gone after the party, but I guess that answers that. Have fun." As she walked through the doors she heard Zaeed behind her.

"Nice kid that one, might be a few screws loose, but nice." Kasumi just smiled as she turned her cloak back on and left.


	27. Bon Voyage

Bon Voyage

"So what you're telling me is that we won't need to make _any_ stops?" Shepard stood on the bridge looking between Joker and Tali as they attempted to explain engineering for idiots to him.

"Yes Commander, we can actually go for as long as we want without stopping with these new upgrades. Unless we want to use the stealth system, then we will need to vent occasionally." Joker had a bit of an exasperated expression as Tali added her own version of "engineering for idiots."

"John, these upgrades allow us to go for extreme distances without utilizing a fuel source; we only need a working mass effect core for them to work. And since I know you, I know you'll want to use the stealth systems so we will need to make stops at certain points along our journey."

He smiled at her for most of her explanation, and waited until she was done to pull her close.

"Whatever you say Mrs. Shepard. So what's the overall ETA? Will we get there before we're old and gray?" Joker snorted but EDI was the one to answer him.

"No Shepard, you should not experience the acute effects of old age until long after we have arrived on Rannoch. Actually, Jeff wanted to ask you if we could visit some of the places the SR-1 went to in your fight against Saren, as they are along the way." Shepard had to think about that for a moment, they did need to stop, and she was right, most of the places they had been to were right along the path from Earth to Rannoch. Noveria, Ilos, Haestrom, all small deviations from their path. _Though that last one might bring up some painful memories, better leave that one alone._

"I don't see why not, since the Reapers knocked out most of the galaxies comm. Buoys, the rest of the galaxy won't know how some places faired unless we stop by and check it out. We can let Hackett know through the QED what we find in those systems."

The two women nodded their heads seeing the sense in his logic, but Joker just hissed a small "yes" in triumph.

"Why do you want to go to these places so bad, Jeff?" EDI managed to draw her mechanical brows down into a frown.

"So I can show you all the awesome stuff I've done, for one. And for two, I can win back some money from Garrus with bets on how they've faired against the Reapers…. What?" The pilot shrunk into his chair as the other three gave him a disapproving look. He just pulled his hat on tighter and muttered under his breath as he turned back around to face his terminals.

"Inappropriate betting aside, we should arrive on Rannoch in about 1.6 years if we include stops for venting and Omega. Not accounting the time it will take if we intend to help _retake_ Omega." EDI's assurance fell on deaf ears as soon as she said 1.6 years. Shepard was watching Tali, knowing such news would be hard on her, but he also knew his wife had a very strong resolve. _My wife. I don't believe I'll ever get tired of hearing that._

Tali did lower her head a little in disappointment, but quickly raised it again once Shepard grabbed her hand.

"Thanks EDI, we'll be departing soon so I need to make a few calls. Let me know if anything comes up that requires my attention."

"Of course Shepard." He gave her a nod and turned back toward the hall and towards the CIC. Tali beside him, he walked past Traynor and gave a smile as she waved at the passing couple. The Specialist had only taken a small part in the festivities of yesterday, only spending a little time eating the food and talking with a couple people before retreating into the crew quarters. She seemed ok though so he attributed it to her being slightly introverted.

They continued past the security checkpoint, and through the war room to the QED. He tapped a few buttons to make a call to Admiral Hackett, but wasn't surprised when he was made to wait for a few minutes. The Admiral was the most important man in the Alliance right then, possibly even the galaxy. So it was completely understandable to hear he was swamped. He decided to talk to Tali rather than wait in silence, and turned to see her playing with her fingers. _She's not nervous is she? _He smiled in spite of himself; regardless of why she did it, it was immensely cute. Reaching out to take her hand again, she jumped a little as she was returned from her thoughts. She looked up so he could look into her eyes.

"You ok gorgeous? You seem a little distracted." She giggled a little before she answered.

"Distracted? Yes I suppose I am." She glanced down toward his butt for a second and laughed again as he gave her a fake stern look.

"Your insatiable you know that? Does this mean it's time for round two already?" he moved a little closer but jumped as Hackett's image blurred into existence.

"Ah! Sir! Uh, good to see you Admiral!" Hackett's image stabilized and the Admiral was looking at Shepard with a raised eyebrow at his unusual greeting.

"…Right, good to see you too Shepard. Now what can I do for you?"

"Nothing sir, we simply want to inform you the Normandy will be departing shortly."

"Ah yes, miss Williams told me you wanted to talk. Well I hope all goes well on your trip Shepard. We sure could use your help on the galactic scene, but I understand your reasons. You're the Galaxy's best soldier Shepard, and you deserve whatever we can give you. Enjoy your honeymoon." Hackett glanced at Tali with that last statement and made to turn off his connection but Shepard stopped him.

"Wait! That's not all sir, we wanted to tell you what our plans were during our trip. We intend to visit certain large population systems, discern their integrity, and report it back to you if they don't have working communication buoys." Hackett stayed quiet for a second after he finished then nodded.

"Sounds good Shepard, I look forward to your reports. Though I must admit, I'm not sure what we can do to help those systems even when the relays are back online. Our resources are incredibly low, and unless those engineers get the relay running quickly, we _will_ run out of certain supplies. They're making good progress, but this will be a close run thing."

"I understand Admiral, and if anyone can get it done, it's the scientists from the Crucible."

"Agreed, well here's hoping for the best. Good luck Shepard, Hackett out." The blue light flickered out of existence and the room was dark again.

He gave a contented sigh as he looked down at the lovely specimen wrapped around his arm, her eyes shone with a light he found entrancing.

"If we are leaving soon I suppose I should get down to engineering. I need to make sure Ken and Gabby are all ready to go." Tali's voice was reluctant as she unwrapped herself from his arm and slowly turned to leave.

"Don't work too hard love, see you soon." He reached out and swatted her bottom, getting a jump and a "bosh tet'" from her before she left the room.

_What's that saying? I hate to see her leave, but I love watching her go. _Keeping a smile on, he moved out through the war room and followed Tali out of that section of the ship. He stopped to chat with Traynor, making sure she was set for the long journey and thanking her again for sticking with him. After a few minutes he shook her hand then got in the elevator, deciding he would do the rounds and reaffirm no one wanted to bail out at the last second. _That's the last thing I need. _He thought as he slapped the button for the crew deck. _A person stuck unwillingly on a ship for over a year? That would be a nightmare for everyone involved._

He stood patiently with his arms folded across his chest as the elevator made its slow progress toward the next deck, giving him time to determine who he would talk to first. He still hadn't really decided his route as the doors pinged open, but the choice was made for him anyway.

"Shepard! Great party huh? It was good to see the old faces again." Garrus yelled from the left of the divider at the crew deck entrance. He was unhooking one of the banners from the wall and had what Shepard had learned was a Turian version of a full-blown smile. Garrus drew the banner down and started to wrap it up between his forearms with a circular motion.

"What are you doing Garrus? Stop! You're doing it all wrong!" the Turian took on an exasperated look and turned to face an angry Miranda.

"Wrong? It's a sheet! How could I be doing it wrong?"

"Didn't they teach you anything in the Turian military? You fold things like _**this**_ to keep wrinkles out and to get maximum storage space." She snatched it from his clumsy talons and started to shake it out and fold it "properly."

"And space, if I need to remind you, is at a premium on this ship right now." Her scolding apparently had not been the first today, as Garrus gave a heavy sigh and moved on to the next banner. Shepard decided to help his beleaguered friend and moved to assist him. Garrus gave him a look from the side that made him laugh, and got a suspicious glare from Miranda, but he began unclipping the banners from the wall and thus got an approving nod.

"That woman, I swear she could freeze the plates off you with a glance."

"Well she knows how to get things done, I have to give her that." His friend gave an amused "hmph" as he started to pull the banner down completely.

"Ah come on, cheer up buddy. I'll bet she picked you to help her for your stunning good looks." Garrus shivered a little in exaggerated revulsion at the idea before folding the banner and setting it aside.

"More like I was the only one stupid enough not to run and hide after the party. Speaking of which, are you ok Shepard? I know Mordin popping up from beyond the grave is a little disorienting." As usual the mention of the old Salarian hurt, but he nodded as he responded.

"Yeah Garrus, I'm fine. I'll have to show you what he got us, it's really… well, interesting." Garrus' cocked one eyebrow up as he finished.

"Whoa now, sounds like he got you and Tali something I might not want to know about." Shepard laughed as he realized just what his friend was implying.

"It's nothing like that Garrus, it's actually something baby related." Garrus barked a laugh as he reached his claws back up to unfasten the next food-stained curtain from the wall.

"I'll just bet it was."

"Look here Vakarian, one more crack like that I'll call Miranda back over to supervise you."

"Threats Shepard? So sad to see a good Spectre gone bad." Shepard smiled and took down the last banner on that side of the mess hall. It looked almost back to normal now with most the banners and drapes gone and the tables rearranged into their usual places. Seeing how normal things looked made him think for a second, turning to Garrus he decided to risk bringing up a touchy subject.

"Didn't you say your dad and sister made it out ok?" His friends face softened and he nodded, the relief clear in his voice.

"Yes they did, they were evacuated on a Quarian vessel, but I don't know which one or to where they were taken. I'll just have to find out after the buoys are back online."

"Glad to hear it Garrus, I'll be sure to lend you the Normandy to find them once we're done with this trip." Garrus' expression turned to shock as he told him the ship would be his, even if only briefly.

"You're loaning me the Normandy?" his voice must've been louder than he thought as Miranda's head whipped around from the kitchen area and she strode over to them with a fiery look in her eyes.

"What's this now?"

"Everybody just calm down. Miranda, I told Garrus I'd allow him to use the Normandy to find his family once we are on Rannoch. If you want, you may remain first mate for that journey and accompany him, or you can stay and help us planet side. That will be up to you." She gave him a glare that said he should've told her sooner, but in truth he had only just thought about it.

"I see, and do you have any idea where they might be?"

"There are a couple landing zones that were designated for evacuation shuttles, but I have no idea which one was theirs, so basically, no." Garrus shrugged as he finished and got a shake of the head by Miranda.

"Well if the relays are up by that time it should be a fairly quick endeavor, if not… well we'll see." She stalked back off toward the kitchen area, leaving the two men to exchange amused glances.

"Spirits, why did you go and invite _her_ to come with me?"

"Because she's my first mate Garrus, I can't rightly tell her she's second in command then give the ship to somebody else now can I?" Garrus was silent for a moment then grumbled,

"Yeah, but her?"

"Stop freaking out Garrus, think of it this way, if she's busy commanding the ship she's not busy bothering you. Anyway I need to check on a few other people before we go, see you around Garrus."

The Turian just continued grumbling as Shepard turned around and headed for Kasumi's hide out in the lounge. Knocking a few times, he waited for her call of "Come in" before walking in to see her sprawled on the couch like a cat. She had a book in her hands that she placed on her stomach as he entered, her hood was still up and she had her usual line of purple on her lip.

"Hey Shep! Glad you stopped by, I was wondering if I could go to the surface when we get to Noveria, I need some more books." She lifted the one in her hands for illustration.

"How did you know about… oh right, well given its not completely destroyed, I suppose we could, sure." She shook one fist in victory before she took her book and set it aside, giving him her full attention.

"So what's up Shep?"

"Just stopping by to make sure your all set, once we set out we won't be turning back."

"A check up huh? Well don't worry Shepard, I'm behind you one hundred percent, it also helps that this isn't a suicide mission. Heck, I even get to steal things for a Spectre! No, I'm just fine Shep, don't worry about me." She bounced in excitement on the couch at the stealing part, but her enthusiasm died down as she finished.

"You should probably talk to Garrus about that stealing thing, I'm pretty sure he'll be sending you on most of your missions anyway. And just so you know, I'm _very_ glad you are coming along Kasumi." He put as much feeling into that as he could, but then, he usually did when he told the truth.

"Thanks Shep, that means a lot coming from the galaxy's savior."

He laughed at the title, but nodded to her before he left the lounge.

As he stepped into the hall he thought about where to go next, but was interrupted by a call on his Omnitool.

"Hey Commander, just letting you know we're all set up here. The Normandy and her crew are reporting all ready, we're just waitin' on your call." Joker looked at him expectantly through the screen as he concluded.

_Ah, I'm not quite ready yet, but maybe I can speed that up._

"Not just yet Joker, I'll need to make an announcement to the crew one more time before we go."

"Aye aye." Joker shut the link and EDI's hologram popped up on the nearest terminal along the hall.

"Would you like to speak from here Shepard?" her cool voice echoed down the hall but he was already walking past her.

"No thanks EDI, I'll be doing this from the CIC." He pushed the number for deck two on the elevator and waited, this time impatiently, for it to arrive. When it finally did open he was surprised to see it's occupants. Aria and Zaeed were in what appeared to be an argument as they brushed past him.

"No, damn it, they don't! If the Asari had something like it, I would have eaten it when the boys and I raided that colony in the Silean Nebula! The food there was guddam horrible if I recall."

"Just because you raided a small time colony you suddenly know more about our food than I do? Trust me, we have something similar to this... peanut butter." They didn't spare him so much as a glance as they walked into the mess hall behind him.

_Well that was interesting, since when does Aria keep any company besides bodyguards? And since when did Zaeed keep any company at **all**?_

His brow furrowed in thought, but he entered the elevator and punched the button for the CIC deck. When he arrived he went straight to Traynor.

"Traynor I need to speak to the crew." The small specialist wasted no time with questions and pulled up the PA system, then gave him a thumbs up indicating it was ready.

"Normandy crew this is Commander Shepard, we are about to embark on a journey likely to last more than a year in it's entirety. If anyone has any doubts about coming along, voice them now, as we will not be turning around once we leave. EDI will be my liaison here, so tell her if you have any problems, otherwise, we leave in five minutes."

He gave Traynor the signal to cut the PA and waited for a minute or two, giving the crew time to approach EDI and change their minds. But as the minutes passed, it became apparent that no one wanted to back out, so he reactivated the PA.

"This is Commander Shepard, we will be leaving drydock to test the new drive in thirty seconds. Double check all systems and report, and as always, it's a pleasure to serve with you all."

He turned the PA off once more and walked to the bridge to stand behind Joker's chair, watching the Citadel slowly rotate from view as the Normandy backed out of the makeshift port. He felt the familiar feel of power as the over sized drive core kicked back on and got them moving again. EDI ran over the reports with unmatched speed and concluded that all was in the green, but Shepard waited a moment as the ship got ever further from Earth.

_I won't be seeing that blue orb again for some time. _He watched it sink further and further into the blackness of space until it was consumed, then turned back to the front windows.

_But I will be seeing something even better._ Visions of houses on cliff sides ran through his mind as he spoke.

"Joker, get us outta here."


	28. Grand Designs

Grand Designs

It had been a little over a month since the Normandy departed from Sol, and already some of the crew were a little on edge. Some had duties that required their frequent attention, like Ken and Gabby, but most did not. And to make up for this lack of activity, the crew had to make there own excitement. Some held boxing matches, board game tournaments, even the occasional eating contest, but they needed to get off this ship soon or tempers would likely flare.

Shepard sat at his desk, looking over various methods of home construction provided by EDI since the extranet was still down. His mind constantly wandered though, his thoughts on the crew were just the most recent distraction. Before that it had been Tali helping him make a blueprint, but he had been unable to focus due to… unavoidable interactions. Tali was sleeping on their bed now, half wrapped in the blankets with her mask off. He sighed and looked back down to his house designs in hopelessness.

_I'll just have EDI make it for me; this is **definitely** not my forte._

Getting up from his desk, he walked down to the bed and pulled the blanket up around Tali's shoulders. Gazing at her face for a moment, her content look making him smile, he then moved to leave the cabin.

As he waited for the elevator just beyond the decontamination room, he decided to follow the now daily routine of checking in with Joker and EDI on their ETA and heading. Taking the elevator down a floor, he quickly made it to the cockpit to find the two in a highly inane argument.

"No Jeff, I don't believe there is any statistical or tangible proof of "Gnomes" who steal socks and or underwear."

"Aw come on, how could you know? You don't even wear them!"

"And if there were _gnomes_ that needed them for some unknown reason, you would be unable to wear them as well, as they would be gone." The pilot just huffed his disappointment at her and sat back in his chair.

"Another riveting discussion of galactic importance I see." He leaned against the wall as they both turned to see him, EDI, he'd noticed, had been getting quite good with social cues and now had her body doing very human things. Her whole body turned to meet someone, as opposed to simply staring straight ahead and talking without acknowledging someone's arrival, and she made her eyes meet as well.

"I can see how this might come across, but I swear this is important stuff Commander."

"Yes of course it is, the age old question of where our socks disappear to needs to be answered, but if I might briefly interrupt your search I'd like to know how close we are to our first stop." Joker's smile split his face at his Commanders quip but let EDI answer.

"We are currently 37.6 minutes away from entering Noveria's air space and 16.2 minutes away from entering the systems perimeter at our current rate of speed." Shepard let out a sigh of relief at the news and slapped the back of Joker's chair.

"About time! A little shore leave will do us all some good hmm?" Joker's smile slipped a little as he gave Shepard a curious look.

"What do you mean?" Shepard kept his smile, albeit awkwardly.

"Well we've been stuck on this ship for over a month Joker, don't you feel a little need to get out?" Joker shook his head a fraction as he proceeded to explain.

"Maybe you forgot Commander, I almost never leave this spot unless I have to go to the bathroom. I can see how you guys might get all antsy, you're all used to going on missions and blowing things up, but I'm always here." Joker smiled and it never faltered as he explained. He wasn't sad that things were the way they were; he was simply stating facts.

"Besides, I think flying is way more fun than shooting anyhow. Tried it, wasn't impressed." He paused for a moment to take a glance at EDI before adding, "And the company here is nice." EDI smiled at the compliment.

"Thank you Jeff, the feeling is more than mutual. Would you like me to alert the crew to our imminent arrival to Noveria Shepard?" he opened his mouth to tell her yes, but slowly closed it as he thought about it more.

_For all we know Noveria is a smoking ruin, would this just be getting the crews hopes up? But then, I'll just have to explain what we found to them even if we skipped right over it._

"Yes, go ahead EDI. Let everyone know we're almost there. But let me know what you find as soon as we're in system, I need to give a report to Hackett."

"Of course Shepard, the crew has been notified. Will you be staying up here as we arrive?" EDI cocked one eyebrow with her question but he shook his head."

"No EDI, I think I'd like to be near the galaxy map in case we meet some undesirables. That's where I'll be, assume hostile territory until confirmed otherwise." He strode from the cockpit and made his way to the raised platform in front of the map near the back of the room. He looked at their position and how close they were for himself, then pulled up his Omnitool to call Tali and Garrus. Both picked up almost instantly and shared the small screen in front of him. Garrus looked like he was in his usual spot among the Normandy's main gun chamber, while Tali looked like she was already out of bed and in engineering. He looked at Tali first.

"Hey Beautiful." She shied a little at his affection in front of someone else, but Garrus interrupted anything she might've said.

"Thanks Shepard I'm flattered, now what's this about Noveria?" Shepard couldn't help but give a loud guffaw at his friend, and he saw Tali's shoulders shaking a little in what was surely laughter before he answered, a big smile painting his face.

"We are apparently almost there Garrus, which is why I called you two, I need you both combat ready just in case." Garrus' expression sobered up quickly and Tali stood a little straighter as he told them his orders.

"On it Shepard, never hurts to be careful right?" he shut his link down and left just him and Tali.

"You really think we'll find something bad here Shepard?" Tali sounded skeptical, and inside he agreed with her, it didn't seem likely anyone would be hostile so soon after the Reapers, but pirates were always a possibility, along with anyone desperate enough planet-side to warrant thievery or worse.

"I have no idea Tali, but we should be prepared for anything. Tell Garrus I'll see you two on the Hangar deck in twenty minutes."

"Will do, see you there… Husband." She sounded a little awkward as she tried the human word, but it made his smile explode.

"Of course my wife, see you soon." He cut the link and boarded the elevator a short distance behind him to go to the Captains cabin for his armor and weapons. Making good time with his armor, he stood up in his full set and marveled at how good it felt to be back in it, even if only as a precaution. Making sure the straps were tight and readjusting his belt, he then snagged his Saber and his new Paladin, stuffing them into their own sheaths. He looked around as he forgot where he put his next weapon for a moment, then moved toward his desk and stooped down to pick up his brand new Cain. Hefting it and nodding approvingly, he slung it over his shoulder and let it attach to the magnetic field on the back of his suit.

Standing for a moment to let the full weight of his arms and armor settle, he grabbed his helmet off the desk and held it under one arm as he set out for the CIC once more to wait for EDI's assessment. He exited the elevator and noticed Traynor at her station, apparently the alert had been taken as a call to stations. She saluted as he stepped up to the rails of the galaxy map.

"Sir, EDI reported that we were entering the system soon and that we should consider it hostile, and judging from your attire, I assume you think it will be?"

"Not really Traynor, but it pays to be cautious. Dying once can make one a bit paranoid apparently." The specialist nodded once as if conceding a point before she turned back to her station.

He didn't have to wait long for EDI's report, as time seemed to be moving quickly now.

"Commander, we have entered the Pax system. Scans show very few ships in orbit, mostly heavy lifters and tugs. A handful of Reaper silhouettes are present, most in orbit, but no signs of active fighting. There also seems to be a few active satellites and communication buoys that survived, it appears the Crucible beam stopped the Reapers just as they were beginning their attack on this system."

"What about ground damage? Can we get a solid scan on how badly they were hit planet-side?" He only had to wait a few seconds as she got the information he required and responded.

"Ground and air traffic seem to indicate only a light force was brought to bear before the beam struck, port Hanshan took the worst of it, but the overall damage was light Shepard." A smile started to bloom on his face, but he wasn't quite satisfied yet.

"And we can confirm the ships in orbit are not hostiles? Just because they're light doesn't mean they aren't a threat."

"No Shepard, the ships in orbit are all port security and corporation licensed vessels, no unauthorized vehicles present." Letting his smile come through completely he let a little jovialness enter his voice.

"Well then let's take her in EDI, disable cloaking and hail security for a landing vector. It's time for a little shore leave."

"Of course Commander." He cut off the link with EDI and got Traynor's attention.

"I need a ship wide band please Traynor, I've got some good news." Saluting, she tapped a few commands into her console and stood aside for him to address the crew.

"This is Commander Shepard, if all goes well we should be entering Noveria's dock in under half an hour. Shore leave will last until 0800 tomorrow, enjoy your day everyone, you've earned it."

He clicked off the PA and nodded his thanks to Traynor before entering the elevator and selecting the cargo deck. He rode it down in silence until the doors opened and allowed him into the now packed area of the cargo bay to find most of his squad already assembled. they must've headed straight here after EDI's alert to beat him there. Tali was in a corner chatting with Kasumi; while Aria, Zaeed and Garrus sat around in a semi circle discussing something quietly. They all looked at him as he entered, but only Tali stopped what she was doing to talk with him.

"It will be good to be on a planet again, even if it is an ice ball like Noveria. I wonder just how much of it is intact?" He took her hand and led her toward the shuttle as he answered.

"EDI says it's only lightly damaged, so I have high hopes of actually doing a little shopping this time around, rather than shooting people and threatening bureaucrats."

She giggled and leaned against the hull of the shuttle so as to be side by side with him.

"Well if I recall you enjoyed the latter quite immensely."

"I did, but- Hey, your not wearing your necklace." His statement made her shift a little as she explained.

"Well you said to suit up for a mission and I… I didn't want it to get damaged or anything so I left it with a few other things in engineering." Halfway through she started dry washing her hands until he grabbed them in his.

"Don't worry Tali I was just curious, I see you kept your ring on though." He flashed a smile at her and she leaned into him.

"I only take this off when my suit comes off, and I don't think I'll need it then." He chuckled but stayed quiet and leaned back into her. They stood like that for a minute or two, just watching as the rest of the crew started trickeling in from the elvator until Joker called him.

"Hey Commander, our brief talk with Noveria security was just as bracing as usual, first they demanded we turn away, but once I made it clear we had two spectres aboard, they eventually caved."

"Good work Joker, are we landing soon then?"

"You bet, we should land in port in two minutes." Shepard looked at Tali for a second before he answered.

"And will you two be joining us? EDI can watch the ship as well as go out." Joker shrugged as he repeated Shepard's motion of looking to the side at EDI before answering.

"That'd be up to her, I'll let you know." Joker cut his link and Shepard took Tali's hand again to lead her toward the back of the hangar to the large door, awaiting their arrival to port Hanshan.


	29. Rocky Road To Dublin

_Hey folks, i wanted to give you a heads up for this chapter, i use lyrics from an old irish song called "rocky road to dublin" and i strongly suggest you look up the song for best effect. enjoy!_

Rocky Road To Dublin

Shepard cast a lazy look around the room in the customs area as him and his crew waited for the people in front of him to pass through the heavy security. He had a good twenty or so people with him ready for some shore leave, and everyone of them could feel a little of their tension leave as they had left the ship and stepped on solid ground. The large customs area was, perhaps in a bit irony, a dull white shade with a texture of stone that was slightly warm to the touch. The air was still mostly dry, and it had a distinct chill despite the management's best efforts to heat the port up. He was startled from his thoughts by the customs agent calling "next!" in a loud yell. He walked up behind the departing group and made himself known.

"Commander Shepard of the Normandy, my crew and I would like to enter Hanshan." The man behind the counter rolled his eyes as he saw Tali walk up beside him.

"You'll have to go through the scanner and remove all weapons, your slave will also need to stay here." In a flash Shepard had the man by the collar and put his face inches from the other mans.

"Perhaps you'd like to use a friendlier tone to my _wife?"_ To his credit the man behind the counter never broke eye contact.

"Get your hands off me or I'll have you-!" His head slamming into the counter top cut off his sentence before he toppled to the floor clutching his face. In moments the security detail had responded and pulled weapons on him.

"Hanshan security! Put your weapons down or we'll be forced to fire!" Shepard finally tore his eyes off the squirming customs agent and turned to face the security.

"I'm Commander Shepard, Council Spectre. I'm allowed to carry weapons here, and this man," he pointed behind him in disgust. "Just insulted my wife. Now I'd like to proceed without incident, wouldn't you? We're just here to stretch our legs and tickle the economy, understand?" The men exchanged uneasy glances then turned back to the heavily armed man.

"Y-yea. Sure, go ahead." the two security guards stood aside and ignored the weapon scanners as they blared their alarm for the first couple people through. The rest of the crew hadn't brought weapons so they passed without incident, but Shepard stayed until the last one passed, then gave the custom's agent a last threatening glare that made him cower a little from across the room. As he started to follow the crew through the doors to enter the port proper he heard the security guards talking quietly.

"No man I don't care if we could lose our jobs, I don't get paid enough to risk that kind of firepower anyway. If you want to try and stop him go right ahead." Shepard smiled behind his helmet as the doors revolved closed behind him and cut off any further eavesdropping. The crew had already spread out in search of entertainment, but the majority moved toward the elevator on the far end of the room that led to the bar. He saw Aria with Zaeed at the head of the line going to the bar and chuckled.

_Maybe Zaeed managed to talk her into a date finally. With the way they've been going I wouldn't be surprised. _He blinked and turned at the soft touch at his elbow to see Tali staring at him.

"Thank you Shepard, but you didn't need to do that." He gave her a hug as he responded.

"The hell I didn't, it's idiots like that that make life difficult for everyone. And _no one_ insults my wife." She laughed a little at his tone then snuggled further into his hug.

"Well when you put it that way, it was kind of satisfying wasn't it?"

"Incredibly." He nodded in agreement then saw Kasumi across the room tapping her foot and looking at them. He slowly extracted himself from her hug.

"Looks like Kasumi's waiting for you gorgeous, I'll meet you in the bar later ok?" He tapped his head against her mask then pulled back to walk toward the bar.

* * *

Tali watched him take his usual strong stride away from her to join the rest of the crew at the bar and gave a small sigh. Watching for just a moment more, she turned and began to join Kasumi at the far end of the room near a hallway with a large flashing sign above it. _Shopping and Corporate center _were flashing in bright yellow and green in an attention getting display that was apparently working. There were crowds of people shuffling to and fro through he hallway, yet somehow no one went near Kasumi as she waited for her.

"Heya girl, ready to do a little shoppin'?" Kasumi pushed off the wall and fell in with Tali toward the shopping center. As she made a path through the crowd, Tali had to yell her question over the background noise.

"And just what are we shopping for? Miranda already made sure our stores can hold out for the rest of the trip!" The little thief had an uncanny ability to weave through the crowd without causing a fuss, a talent Tali was sorely lacking.

"This isn't for the Normandy Tali, it's for us." They finally emerged at the mouth of the entrance where the traffic was a little less heavy, and rejoined each other side by side as they continued on toward the shopping center. _Wow, this place really was lucky. There's barely any sign at all that there was fighting here._ She noted the occasional bullet holes in the walls and the odd char mark, but really nothing else was out of place.

"See anything interesting yet?" Kasumi saw her looking around and assumed she was looking at the shops lining the walls.

"Oh, um, well let's see." Tali deviated from their course and started toward a little store on the left and Kasumi followed. The sign over the shop was in an Asari text and she wasn't familiar enough to read it, but once inside she could quickly guess.

The store was stuffed from wall to wall with fabrics and rotating clothing racks, which held clothes of every color and shade. Behind the desk was a friendly Asari woman, who gave a warm smile as the two aliens entered her shop.

"Good afternoon ladies, can I help you find anything?" she had a complexion that spoke of relative youth in Asari, but she certainly wasn't a child. Kasumi decided to answer first.

"Yes actually, I was wondering if you had any stealth field friendly fabric in black?" the woman behind the counter started listing off things for Kasumi who asked the occasional comment, but Tali was already wandering. She rifled through the racks of clothes, seeing colors and textures she liked, but after a while gave up at looking for anything Quarian.

_Didn't Shepard say something about me getting a dress once? _She frowned as she tried to recall what he said but was interrupted by Kasumi.

"Tali? Aren't you going to ask about anything?" The thief had an arm full of new materials of a few different colors, but mostly black.

"No I'm ok, really. I'll just-"

"Tali!" Her friends scolding tone made her wince a little as she walked up to her.

"Tali you need to stop being so selfless once in a while! It's really not so horrible to buy something for yourself once in a while." She waved down the Asari clerk with her free hand and waited for her to come over.

"My friend here would like to see anything you might have for Quarians."

"Of course, right over here. Did you have something specific in mind?" Tali followed the clerk while deep in thought, but nodded with her response.

"Yes actually, I am looking for something to wear when I have my suit off." The two women next to her slowed and looked at each other, Kasumi with a knowing smile and the Asari with a puzzled expression. Tali wanted to smack herself her embarrassment was so deep.

"I mean, well, it's because I have, no that's not right." She shied further and further into herself as her embarrassment threatened her very sanity.

"Tali relax, just calm down and browse."

Kasumi's reassuring smile helped immensely and she did as her friend suggested, looking through the various suits and clothes. Most of the things she saw were to wear underneath the suit for any variety of reasons, none of which was what she wanted. Her embarrassment was still boiling within her, but she wanted to surprise Shepard so badly it briefly overpowered her fear of ridicule.

"This isn't really what I meant miss, I'm looking for something I can use to surprise my bondmate." The light of understanding sparked behind the Asari's eyes and she nodded briefly, then gave Tali a good long looking over. The clerk took out a measuring instrument and started to pull it across Tali's waist. She was a little puzzled at first but when she shook her head in confusion Kasumi leaned in and whispered to her.

"She's getting your measurements, so she can find you something that fits."

The clerk continued to pull her instrument across certain areas, like her hips and calves, her neck and certain other places, nodding to herself and scribbling her findings down on a small notebook drawn form a pocket. Tali was reminded briefly of another Asari jotting things down with excitement. _Liara T' Soni_. _She certainly changed since the first time I saw her, I wonder when the innocence left? _Tali was jostled form her thoughts by the clerk standing up from her last measurements.

"Well ma'm, I don't have Quarian specific casual wear, but fortunately many human and Asari clothes can be made to easily fit. Would you care to take a look at some styles and choose your favorite?" making a sweeping gesture, as if herding the two customers before her, the clerk ushered them to a rack of fancy human dresses. Immediately Tali's eye was drawn to a dark red dress along the wall behind the rack the clerk was trying to show them. It was an armless body gown that fell to the ankles and had a slit up one side of the hem to show off the legs of the wearer.

"What about this one?" Tali walked past the woman and pointed to the dress, ignoring the rack next to the clerk completely.

"That? That one was imported from Earth before the invasion. Which I'm sad to say, makes it a very pricey commodity." Tali felt disappointment drag her down into an almost depressed state until Kasumi once more came to her rescue.

"Tali, you seem to be forgetting something, we're rich." She shook a credit chit in one fist for emphasis.

"I can't Kasumi, if Shepard saw how much I spent on-"

"Wait, did you say Shepard? As in _the _Commander Shepard?" the Asari quickly closed the distance between herself and Tali, making her quite uncomfortable.

"Your part of Shepard's crew aren't you! Oh this is amazing! I'd heard he made port but I didn't really believe it of course, no one has been here since the Reapers died and…" the clerk's eyes widened even more as their past conversations clicked into place.

"You're looking for a dress for your bondmate, yes? Do you mean…?" her mouth fell open when she saw Kasumi nodding with a smile at the unasked question. Suddenly the clerk snapped her mouth shut and took a deep breath.

"I'd be willing to offer a discount on that dress ma'm, and on your purchases as well." She nodded to Kasumi for that last.

"Really? Thank you! This means so much to me you can't even guess!" Tali bounced giddily as the clerk took the dress down from the wall and brought it to the counter.

"Wait, don't I need to make sure it fits first?" The clerk shook her head in response but saw that wasn't sufficient enough to explain.

"No ma'm, this material is loose enough to fit any size, but form fitting once tightened manually." She finished swiping the dress and ran the credit chit from Tali, waiting a few seconds for it to register, then handed it back along with the dress.

"Will that be all ma'm?" the two women nodded but before either spoke the clerk chipped in once more.

"I'm glad I could help ma'm, I hadn't heard Shepard was bonded, congratulations. Is it true he was there when Thessia fell?" Tali exchanged looks with Kasumi, who stayed silent.

"Yes, he was. And thank you again miss." Tali turned to leave and heard Kasumi follow suit before she left the store entirely to join the many shoppers roaming the streets. Taking the lead, Kasumi started out ahead of her, making Tali have to jog and jostle people aside in an attempt to catch her. But eventually she lost sight of the little thief entirely. Standing on tip toes she scanned the crowd, but gave up after a few tries.

"Kasumi?" Tali yelled above the noise to no avail. Throwing her hands up in frustration she tapped her foot, trying to see her through the crowd again.

_Why would she ditch me like that? Maybe I should call-_

"Well hello there, you look lost little missy." A gruff voice came from behind her and she whirled around to see two men, one Turian and one Human, before the Turian lashed out and pulled her into a nearby hole in the wall shop that was closed down from extensive damage. The Turian had a firm hold around her shoulders, keeping her arms locked behind her while the Human looked her over.

"Very nice, and what is this? A dress? But I thought you Quarians couldn't be outside your suits? Well, let's just find out if that's true." The man pulled a blade from his pocket and flipped it open, his tongue played inside his teeth as he grinned and pulled his arm back to stab. Reacting, Tali threw all her might into rolling the Turian around, giving him no choice but to either hold on and follow or let go. He apparently decided to hang on, but became a shield between her and her other attacker, she took advantage of his momentary lack of grip and ripped herself free, wheeling to face the two thieves in the cramped space, she instinctively reached for her plasma shotgun and found it missing.

Her eyes searched for a second before latching on to it lying on the floor behind the two thugs, who seemed to have forgotten it completely. Her attackers quickly split up to allow more room to maneuver, but realized too late it did the same for her. Taking a step toward the Turian first, she dodged around his punch and grabbed his arm with her left hand, snaking her right arm underneath and behind his to put leverage on her side, she then brought as much power as she could into bringing her right arm back towards herself, with his elbow in the way. It snapped his arm at the elbow with a sickening crack that left the Turian screaming and clutching his ruined elbow. She stepped back from the Turian as he fell and jumped back to avoid the other mans knife with a hop that allowed her time to plan before he moved again.

_He may be an idiot, but even idiots can get a lucky stab in._

She looked for a way around him and a plan formed in her mind as she sprang into action. She leaped for the empty counter and hopped it easily, putting the barrier between herself and the assailant first, then sprinted for the back of the room and her shotgun. Leaping the counter again, she rolled and grabbed her weapon from the floor and came out pointing at him in one fluid motion, leaving the man gaping at her in astonishment. Yelling over the Turians screams of pain was no easy feat.

"Put the knife down, nice and slow!" the man's face remained comically gaping as he complied, gently stooping down and letting the knife hit the floor. She gestured with her shotgun for him to move toward the door and he shuffled that way, apparently not wanting to test if the martial artist he'd tried to stab was ready to kill.

She followed him out, her shotgun still leveled at his back as people gasped and backed away, some calling for security. Soon enough, Hanshan security came trotting up seconds later.

"Put the gun down ma'm!" Tali reluctantly complied and reattached it to its magnetic holder on her back. The security detail moved in to take over once she did, and Tali sighed as she watched them handcuff the man.

_This was supposed to be a vacation._ She jumped as she remembered her dress and moved to go back inside the shop, only to be restrained by one of the officers.

"I'm sorry ma'm I can't let you go until we get some answers." In a fit of frustration Tali threw up her hands and let all the tension from the fight release at the same time.

"You want answers? These two idiots dragged me off the street and tried to stab me! If I hadn't fought back I'd be dead right now! And you had better get them out of here soon, because if Shepard were to hear about this, he would snap their necks in a heartbeat! That is if I don't do it first! Now get out of my way." The officer gave a shocked look and didn't stop her as she walked inside and snatched her dress from the counter where the thugs had set it down, and stepped over the Turian who was still clutching his broken arm in the fetal position. She walked back out and readdressed the officer.

"If you need me further, I'll be aboard the Normandy." She turned past him and made her way back to the Normandy to stow her new dress somewhere Shepard wouldn't see it.

_Then I'll go find him at the bar, maybe that'll calm me down a bit. _

"Tali! Wait up!" Kasumi came jogging up from behind her looking worried. "Is everything ok? I thought you followed me into that store but you were gone and… Tali?"

Tali was giving her as straight a face as she could through the mask, but her mood must've shown in her stance.

"Where did you go Kasumi? I lost you in the crowd."

"Well I thought you were right behind me, and even if you weren't I didn't think anything bad could happen in the middle of a shopping mall."

"Well it did. I got pulled into that shop over there by two thugs and nearly got stabbed."

Kasumi dropped her bags of clothes and gasped.

"Oh my god, Tali I am _so_ sorry, I should've been there! Are you ok? Did they get you at all?" She immediately started looking for the non-existent cut before Tali could interrupt.

"I'm fine Kasumi, luckily they were idiots."

"Fine? No, this is not fine. You could've died! And all because I screwed up and let my guard down, Tali I can't express how sorry I am right now, I'll make it up to you I swear it." Tali suddenly found their roles reversed as she hugged Kasumi in reassurance.

"Kasumi please, I'm fine I promise. But if you really want to make it up to me, don't tell Shepard about this just yet, ok? I'd like to enjoy the rest of my day." Kasumi wiped a few tears from her face and nodded.

"Of course Tali, I'll take that back to the Normandy if you'd like."

"Thanks Kasumi, make sure Shepard can't see it please." Kasumi bowed deeply before running off toward the Normandy. Tali watched her friend run off until she couldn't see her anymore then took a deep breath and started walking toward the elevator to the bar.

Riding the elevator down, she heard the music long before the doors opened. It was a light and upbeat tune, seeming to lift her spirits instantly as she heard some familiar instruments. Then her spirits lifted even higher when she saw who was on the stage at the front of the bar. Kenneth Donnelly was clapping along with the tune, waiting for the right moment before launching into a song.

"In the merry month of May, From my home I started,  
Left the girls of Tuam, Nearly broken hearted,  
Saluted father dear, Kissed my darlin' mother,  
Drank a pint of beer, My grief and tears to smother…"

Tali found herself clapping along, still standing at the entrance to the bar, as her fellow engineer sang. People were moving all around the dance floor, but she saw her destination at one of the tables.

"Then off to reap the corn, And leave where I was born,  
I cut a stout blackthorn, To banish ghost and goblin,  
In a brand new pair of brogues, I rattled o'er the bogs,  
And frightened all the dogs,On the rocky road to Dublin.

One, two, three, four five,  
Hunt the hare and turn her  
Down the rocky road  
And all the ways to Dublin,  
Whack-fol-lol-de-ra!"

As Tali neared Shepard's table she couldn't help but laugh. He was slamming his beer mug on the table and stamping his feet In time with the beat, slinging alcohol around the room along with most of the rest of the bar's occupants, spurring Kenneth on. He saw her approaching and quickly made room for her to sit, shoving Garrus off the bench.

"Hey!" the combined sound of Kenneth's song and the roaring audience drowned his offended shout out, but Tali ignored the now vacant seat in favor of Shepard's lap. He gave her a grin and then roared his own encouragement as Kenneth stirred the crowd. To Tali's surprise, Miranda leaned in to yell in her ears.

"It's an old Human folk song." Tali nodded that she understood and Miranda sat back and clapped. The song sounded like it was winding down, but Kenneth gave it his all.

"The boys of Liverpool, When we safely landed,  
Called myself a fool; I could no longer stand it;  
Blood began to boil, Temper I was losin',  
Poor ould Erin's isle They began abusin',  
"Hurrah my soul," sez I, My shillelagh I let fly;  
Some Galway boys were by, Saw I was a hobble in,  
Then with a loud hurray, They joined in the affray.  
We quickly cleared the way, For the rocky road to Dublin

One, two, three, four five,  
Hunt the hare and turn her  
Down the rocky road  
And all the ways to Dublin,  
Whack-fol-lol-de-ra!"

The music faded and the crowd exploded to their feet, clapping vigoriously as Kenneth took a bow and stepped down, only to be assaulted by new fans. An incredibly loud and sharp whistle came from Gabby who sat at the table nearest them with a few other crew members. Shortly after he stepped down, the bar started playing the usual bass filled techno beat these places seemed to favor. Tali found herself feeling incredible, despite the earlier incident. _I'll have to ask Ken about that song after we leave again. That was really good._

"Kenneth that was amazing! I didn't know you could sing!"Gabby bounded up and gave him a hug as he neared them.

"Aye lass, there's lots o things you don't know bout' me." His thick accent carried it's usual hint of amusement.

"You've been holdin' out on us Ken, that really was amazing." Shepard's voice rumbled through her body as he spoke. The others clamored their agreement and the engineer blushed at all the attention. Zaeed raised his glass, one arm around Aria's shoulders, which she pretended not to notice with some degree of success.

"A toast, to our drunken heathen Scotsman!" the crew raised their glasses as one, as they called out. "For our drunken heathen Scotsman!" but Shepard put a hand under her chin and turned her head to face him.

"To us." He whispered.


	30. Troubled Thoughts

Troubled Thoughts

Shepard sat on his bed in the Normandy, slowly stroking the top of Tali's head, running fingers through her hair as he thought about his time on Noveria. He had been outraged when she told him about her mugging, but had managed to restrain himself from marching into Hanshans security office and killing the thugs himself. And he couldn't blame Kasumi, she had assumed as he had that the streets were safe enough. No, he blamed himself for this one. He should've known there would be some racist fool walking around looking for an easy mark, especially after the incident at the customs counter. _And yet, she walked into that bar like she hadn't a care in the world, she even clapped along to Ken's song. _He looked down at Tali's head resting on his chest and smiled. _That's my girl._

Tali must've felt his movements as she rolled around to look at him.

"So, your really not angry?" He sat up fully against the pillows, stretching his back first before replying.

"Oh I'm angry alright. I'm angry those thugs mugged you before you even got to buy anything for yourself." He shook his head and had to make a conscious effort to unclench his fists. Tali just looked at him, her expression unchanging.

"I'll make it up to you Tali, whatever you want, I'll get it next time we go shopping for something."

"Anything hmm?" she smiled and tilted her head slightly.

"Anything." She continued to stare at him for a moment, then crawled back to him, her face almost touching his.

"Then please, just let this go. I'm fine and I don't want you thinking about it anymore."

His frown melted away quickly once she closed the distance completely, giving him a kiss but pulling away before it got too heated.

"You promise?" she looked deep into his eyes, as if to ferret out whether he was lying.

"That's a tall order gorgeous. But I think I can do it, I promise." He leaned forward for a kiss and was surprised when she leaped off the bed.

"Then stay right there, I have a surprise for you." Her sultry voice did terrible things to him as she quickly trotted through the door and out of the room.

"Surprise? Well this should be good." His attempt to keep his mood up failed, and he struggled to keep his promise and not think about yesterday.

_This is going to be a long wait._

* * *

Tali leaped from the elevator the second it opened to the crew deck, taking a sharp left towards the lounge. Opening the door without knocking, she noted with frustration that Kasumi wasn't present, and began to search for the dress herself. Checking over the bar area, she hurriedly lifted couch cushions and moved drapes, then stood up with a smile. _She's a thief, she wouldn't have hid it someplace so obvious._ Touching her hand to her visor in consternation, she tried to think of where the woman would've stashed something she knew Tali cared about deeply. She didn't have to think about it long though, as the door opened behind her.

"Tali? Oh right! It's right over here." Kasumi walked past her to kneel at the foot of the couch. To Tali's surprise she didn't touch the couch, instead she pulled up her omnitool and tapped a few buttons, which shortly after revealed a small but clean cubby hole under a panel that looked like she had hollowed it out herself. The thief carefully reached in and extracted the gown as if it were a baby, and handed it to Tali. She took the bundle and held it in front of her for a second, then looked back up at Kasumi.

"Could you come with me? I might need some help with this." She indicated the dress with a nod of her head.

"Of course Tali, I'd love to." She smiled almost gratefully as she led the way from her room to the elevator, and Tali found herself staring at her friend as the elevator rose.

_I wonder why she's acting so strange now, just because she wasn't there? No, that can't be it, could it?_ Kasumi noticed her staring and looked back silently.

_That must be it; she thought I would think of her differently since she wasn't there to help. _

"Kasumi, I asked Shepard to promise me something today, I want you to promise me something as well." The small woman turned to face Tali fully, but only nodded.

"I want you to promise me you'll always treat me like a little sister. Because I will always think of you as my older one." Tali walked up to Kasumi and hugged her hard, trying to convey as much love as she could through her arms. When she finally pulled back Kasumi had a shocked look on her face, and her lips moved as if she wanted to speak but couldn't. She finally managed after a few deep breaths, but it came out as a whisper.

"Tali, I was so afraid you would hate me for not being there, that I'd lose my best friend… my little sister." Kasumi's face became clenched as if it was agony to think about it, but slowly, she looked back up at Tali.

"You don't think less of me?" Tears were rolling down her cheeks now, but Tali could see the hesitant look of hope in her friend's eyes.

"Think less of you? Kasumi, how could you even think that? You are as a sister to me, you always will be."

they were tears of joy now, of a sister thought lost but found again. The elevator finally pinged open, and Tali led a much happier but sniffeling Kasumi through the doors and into the decon chamber.

Taking another deep breath and wiping her tears from her face Kasumi stood a little straighter as she faced Tali again.

"So, let's see how beautiful you look in that dress shall we?"

* * *

Shepard paced up and down his small cabin, his thoughts starting to turn to worry as Tali took longer and longer to come back. He glanced at his clock for the umpteenth time and shook his head in frustration, continuing his route.

"Shepard? It's Kasumi, can I come in?" He whirled to face the door, his frown deepening.

"Of course, is everything ok? Where's Tali?" the door slid apart to reveal Kasumi with a small smile.

"She's doing great Shep, just you wait and see. I give you, Tali Shepard vas Rannoch!" she backed out of the doorway with an extravagant bow to allow Tali to step out and show herself. His jaw dropped practically to the floor as he saw her in that stunning deep cherry red gown, it sparkled slightly as the light hit it, and the slit up the side showed off her gorgeous legs. The dress was tight around her hips, allowing her tremendous curves to move unfettered yet emphasizing at the same time. Kasumi ducked back out of the door and closed it behind her, but he didn't even notice, he was far too entranced.

"Does that mean you like it?" Tali's hair fell in waves over as she moved toward him.

Moving like he was in a dream, he reached out to her, and she placed a hand on his open palm, allowing him to draw her in closer.

"You are the most beautiful person I've ever seen." He finally managed to whisper.

"That's a yes then." She giggled and pushed him backwards with a hand on his chest, until he toppled backwards over the bed.

* * *

Kasumi smiled to herself as she rode the elevator back down to the crew deck.

_Good luck girl, that should knock him dead._ She chuckled as she recalled her brief glimpse of Shepard's face, his jaw dropping like a lead weight at Tali's appearance. She had to admit, Tali truly was beautiful under her mask, and Kasumi still felt more than privileged to have been allowed to see it. She would remember that moment forever.

"_Ok Tali, I've done as much as I can here, I should go." _She had turned to leave but stopped when Tali grabbed her arm.

"_Please stay Kasumi, I'm fine with you seeing my face if you are. And I still need help, I've never worn anything like this before."_ Tali waited for her nod, then reached up and undid the clamps on her mask, revealing a beautiful smiling face.

Kasumi shook herself from the memory; her eyes welling up again as she thought about how much trust it must've taken to show her face to someone besides Shepard. Grateful for the elevator doors finally opening she walked down the hall to the lounge, feeling almost as content as she had when Keiji was alive. She selected a book from her stash and settled down on the couch with a contented sigh.

_It's good to be home._


	31. Ghosts Of Omega

Ghosts Of Omega

He traced a finger over the route the Normandy had taken the last five months, pausing in his line for a moment to indicate where they had stopped in the Hawking Eta Cluster only to find a whole lot of empty space. Continuing his trace, he started the arc over the top of the galactic core, finally stopping close to the Omega cluster where the ship was now approaching.

Shepard pursed his lips, idly tapping the Omega icon floating on the map before him in thought. It had been a while since he'd thought about his Noveria trip, but he still smiled fondly when he remembered Tali's dress. She hadn't used it again since then, as she had nearly ripped it off to get at him last time. But it was still amazing as he saw it again in his minds eye. Turning from the galaxy map with a smile, he walked down the ramp and ignoring the vacant terminal that Traynor usually operated, moving past the also vacant security checkpoint and meeting area, to finally arrive at the war room. Most of the normal crewmembers were down in the crew deck, still waking up, so only his specialists were in the room yet. He'd ordered them to the war room as soon as EDI had called and told him they were within one hour of arrival to Omega.

He marched down the steps and stopped at the center of the room, his friends' eyes following him in silence.

"Aria, you were here last, what could we be up against?" The Asari glared at him for his reminder of her losing Omega, but activated the map hologram of Omega and proceeded anyway.

"Cerberus had a group of four ships, one cruiser and three frigates, located here and here." she circled areas around the hollowed out asteroid with her fingers, showing the installation surrounded.

"They also had a substantial ground force to drive my men and I out, but if they were all husk variants I suppose they aren't a problem anymore. Our main goals should be the ships, but if they are gone or destroyed then next would be a simple matter of finding out who took over in my stead." She leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest, apparently unable to add anything further.

"Ok listen up, assuming the blockade is no longer functioning, we need a plan to assess Omega from the inside, Kasumi, can you be our insider for a day or two? Tell us who's who in Omega now?" The small thief nodded enthusiastically, eager to do something, anything but sit on this ship for another day.

"Ok good, we'll send you in the shuttle once we know if the defenses are down. Garrus, Zaeed? You're my heavy hitter squad. Once Kasumi gives the all clear, us three will break down whatever ground defenses they have between the dock and the… heh, throne room." Aria rolled her eyes at his comment but he ignored it when Garrus raised a hand.

"What should we do if the defenses are too tight Shepard? We're good, but contrary to popular belief, we aren't immortal." Shepard nodded at his friend's assessment and took a glance at Aria, who coolly stared him down with an imperious glare.

"If the defenses are too heavy we will have to abort. I'm sorry Aria, but I won't risk losing any friends over this place, not when we've already come so far." Aria's expression changed so rapidly he couldn't follow it as she leaned toward him and put her hands down on the edge of the hologram table.

"And what about me? I've come this far too! I didn't complain once about the crap I had to endure just to get here, and now you tell me you'll just give up without even trying?" the fire in her eyes was roaring as she waited for his response.

"Look, we are discussing extremes here. We aren't saying we should give up right now, only if the situation warrants it. And as to me not wanting friends to die here, did you think I would let _you_ go if I thought it was too dangerous?" Aria's anger faltered for a moment at his question. But flared back up quickly.

"You think you could stop me? I'm _**going**_ to Omega, and no one is getting in my way." She started to march out but Zaeed stepped in her way.

"Get the fuck out of my way Zaeed!" The blue glow of biotics suddenly flew up around her, making her look all the more menacing, but Zaeed stood his ground, looking back with a stony gaze. For one perilous moment Shepard thought she would fling him through a bulkhead, but the bluish glow slowly subsided. Lowering her fists to her sides she took a deep breath, then looked up into his ruined face.

"What the hell are you doing? If you think-" Her eyes widened as the old mercenary suddenly scooped her off her feet and into his arms, a big smirk on his face as she looked daggers at him; but to the surprise of the entire room, she didn't struggle.

"I got my orders Shepard, you know where I'll be if you need to hammer out details yea?" He carried Aria out through the doors Shepard had just come in through, leaving everyone in a state of disbelief. Garrus was the first to break the spell.

"Anyone else feel the need to puke? No? Just me then?"

"For once Garrus, I agree completely." Miranda had a look of disgust that was quite genuine.

The group shook off the shock of a docile Aria and refocused on the briefing.

"Where was I? Oh right. If everything goes south we will still deploy the heavy hitters to extract Kasumi. Until we have a better view of what's going on there, this will have to suffice as our plan. Any questions?" Looking around briefly he nodded. "Dismissed." Everyone filed out leaving just him and Tali.

"I noticed you didn't mention me, why?" She slowly walked around the center table, stopping a few feet from him and dry washing her hands.

"There's a few reasons for that beautiful. First, your not one of my heavily armored members; second, I need you on the ship making sure Joker doesn't destroy her completely if we have to fight Cerberus." he closed the distance between them and took both her hands in his.

"But most importantly, I was saving my best asset for last." She shook her head in what he hoped was amusement before she untangled their hands and hugged him.

"I love you." His whisper made her giggle

"Say it again."

"You mean you're not tired of hearing it everyday?" He mimed shock but quickly replaced it with a grin for her as she looked up.

"Never."

"I love you." She craned her neck to meet him halfway and tap her mask to his forehead. They stared at each other for what felt like hours; her eyes were like suns through a pair of tinted glasses, glowing, but dim enough to stare at and get lost in. _This is hardly the first time either. How many times have we looked at each other like this? And I still love every second of it._

"Come on gorgeous, we should get ready." Neither of them moved for a second, but eventually he tore his gaze away from her with no small amount of reluctance.

"EDI, what's our ETA?" he looked over his shoulder at her terminal on the wall as she popped into existence.

"We are ten minutes from entering the Omega Cluster Shepard." He whirled around to face the hologram in astonishment.

"Ten?"

"Yes Shepard, I believe that is what I said. The crew has already been alerted and are at full battle readiness." He cursed under his breath before he answered, "Good job EDI." and started to leave the war room to gather his armor, but stopped when he heard Tali's footsteps behind him. She caught up to him and gave an impatient wave of her hand as if to push him forward.

"Well? Come on! You won't get all your armor on fast enough to be in the cargo bay in time without my help." She stormed past him as he smiled at her.

"Of course my love." Then he followed her to the elevator and into their room, gathering up armor and weapons from their racks and laying them out for easy access. Tali strapped the leg pieces on while he worked on the cuirass, making sure everything was tight before moving on to the shoulder and arm guards. They eventually clapped on the last piece of armor and weapons; turning him into the sight the galaxy's less desirables had come to fear. He had spent some time polishing the armor, repairing minor details that the alliance hadn't gotten to while the suit was made on Earth, so he looked even more imposing than usual.

"Well I think that's it, right?" He looked around the cabin for any thing he might have missed, but Tali was already pushing him out the door.

"Of course it is! I made sure all your things were stowed properly this time. Honestly, how you ever got as far as you have I'll never know." He trudged onto the elevator with heavy clunking footsteps to stand next to her, keeping his helmet under his arm.

"You know what they say, behind every great man is a great woman." She shot him a glance that he affected not to notice and they continued their ride down in silence.

The doors slid apart to reveal a far less cramped cargo deck. There were fewer heavy food crates lining the walls and not nearly as many supply boxes, thus allowing easier travel to and from the main elevator. His assault team was assembled already, with the exception of Aria and Zaeed, and he could see Kasumi moving around inside the shuttle, probably double-checking the stealth systems.

He began moving toward them with Tali beside him, but his Omnitool beeped with an incoming call.

"Commander, we have entered the Omega system, scans are showing no immediate signs of active ships, but there are Reaper silhouettes around the station."

"Hold that thought EDI." He took a quicker pace and got to his team, then let EDI give her spiel once they were gathered around.

"Ok, give me what you got."

"As I said, Scans aren't showing active ships, not even tugs or lifters for moving the wrecks, and Reaper corpses are still floating around the station. I can only surmise that between the Reapers and Cerberus all ships were destroyed, or the station is dead." The team looked at each other uneasily, it was always difficult hearing an entire population might be gone. Taking a deep breath Shepard spoke.

"And what about the Cerberus ships? Any sign of them?"

"There are signs of a fierce battle having been fought all around the station, mostly involving small arms fire scarring. As to the Cerberus ships, some of the ship fragments floating around the station would seem to indicate they fought the Reapers unsuccessfully. There are two destroyer class Reapers and two transport vessels in orbit around the asteroid, both appear empty." Shepard stood in silence for a moment, taking in her reports and trying to imagine just what took place, but gave up.

"What about Omega itself? Any signs of life?"

"There are still lights on around certain areas, mostly the club area, but there are also large sections of the station with no detectable atmosphere." Garrus spoke up before Shepard could.

"So your saying parts of the station could have survivors?"

"That is correct Garrus, but I have no proof that there are in fact, any survivors at all." The group shuffled a little as each of them saw visions of what would await them in the halls of Omega.

"Assuming there are any, how many people could live in the areas you say have atmosphere?" It took a second for the AI to do the math but quickly responded.

"Depending on their food stores and on whether they helped each other to survive, then there could very well be hundreds. But on the more likely solution that any new rulers decided to hoard for themselves, then no more than about one hundred survivors, and that is optimistic." Shepard opened his mouth to respond but stopped and turned at the sound of the elevator doors opening. Aria and Zaeed walked through the doors, both with weapons on their hips and back. Aria was the first to speak as they approached.

"Why are you all still standing here? Lets get this going already." Shepard looked to the shuttle to see Kasumi putting an oxygen mask on under her hood, and nodded that she was ready.

"Ok then Kasumi, operation is a go." She gave a thumbs up and closed the hatch before walking to the shuttle's pilot seat. They all watched the shuttle lift off the deck and move through the open hangar door, their mass effect core keeping in the atmosphere as she hurtled toward the objective.

Once the hangar doors clamped shut again, he proceeded to give Aria and Zaeed the situation report, carefully not asking where the two had been. But he noticed Aria'a expression turning continually colder as he wrapped up.

"So what your telling me is that my station is ruined. No, not only that, but that there's no one left to rule over anyway, is that right?" She looked between him and the others, then nodded to herself and walked away, sitting near Vega's old hangout, and dragged a hand down her face, leaving a truly blank expression.

"That station has been the center of her whole existence for centuries." Zaeed's face contorted with internal anguish as he spoke, making the scars climb around his face in horrible ways.

"I know Zaeed, but we aren't equipped to deal with that many people aboard this ship. I really don't see what we can do here." Zaeed faced him with anger etched into his face, not directed at Shepard, but at the situation.

"No damn it! It has nothing to do with what we can or can't do Shepard. This bloody station is dead, whether we help or not. She doesn't have anywhere to go." He finished in an angry whisper, practically quivering with rage as he looked at her sitting across the room.

* * *

Kasumi rechecked her cloaking system once more before opening the hatch and exiting the shuttle, giving it instructions via Omnitool to return to the Normandy. She had picked a spot farther from the club on purpose, as the spot the Normandy used to take was a smoking crater in the side of the station.

She directed her attention to the docking bay and instantly saw carnage all around her. There were bodies strewn about the walkway, most looked as though they were gunned down or torn to shreds as they ran toward the docking area. She could trace the course of the battle easily, all the scarring along the walls making the flow of the battle a tell tale retreat. The bodies in front of her were normal looking enough, having been preserved by the lack of atmosphere; it was the ash piles that disturbed her most.

_Those were husks_.

Her thoughts were confirmed when she finally got to counting the sheer number of ash piles throughout the bay. There were hundreds in the bay alone.

_But were they attacking survivors? Or was this just how many were here when the beam hit?_ She stooped next to one of the bodies near her, noting the bullet holes along his torso. She looked at the angle of the bullet wounds, and stood up to walk toward the area they had originated. There were more bodies at the entrance to the bay; these were apparently the attackers as they were in a position that indicated they had been taking cover from the bunch running to the bay. The attackers had the white and black of Cerberus on their armor, but when Kasumi pulled the helmet off of one, the armor was empty. Remebering what Aria had said about Cerberus troops in the war room and curious now, she began removing all the helmets around her, only to find that the Cerberus agents had been vaporized as the husks had.

_So the husks had been pushing from one direction, while Cerberus pushed from the other. Were they working together?_ She shook her head and stood up from the corpses, moving further into the station. She followed her internal map of the labyrinth that was Omega and finally arrived at the part of the station with atmosphere. Signs of fighting were still everywhere, and the more she saw the more she realized that the last moments on Omega were total chaos.

There were Cerberus armor sets laying next to piles of ashes that were once husks, and civilian groups torn to pieces from husk claws and bullet wounds. There were even Cerberus pieces dented in with blunt weapons likely wielded by desperate civilians trying to fight back. It had been a complete free for all, with everyone apparently fending for themselves and shooting first. Stepping over rotting bodies and ash, she entered the club to a horrendous sight. There used to be survivors here, but they had been long since dead. Their bodies were withered from starvation and dehydration, but that hadn't been the cause of death. Almost all of the bodies had a single bullet wound to the head, as if someone else had come through and executed them all. Kasumi dashed back out of the club toward the slightly less horrid area outside to throw her mask off and be violently sick.

Giving herself a minute to make sure it was over, she wiped her mouth on a sleeve and replaced her mask. She shakily lifted her Omnitool and called Shepard.

"Kasumi! Is everything ok? What's the situation?" she swallowed, making sure she could speak without repeating her earlier incident.

"No, I'm ok Shepard, but this station is a nightmare. There are dead bodies everywhere, and I saw some signs of a more militant faction that could still be alive somewhere else on the station, but the club is dead." There was silence form his end for a moment before he replied.

"Understood Kasumi, call us immediately if you need extraction." He cut the link and left her to explore further.

She gulped again, then moved to the next area with atmosphere. She saw still more signs of fighting along the way as she checked all the sections, but finally arrived at the lower sections of the asteroid. She crept along a dark hallway that lead to the only habitable place she hadn't checked yet and leaned against the door. Listening for a moment she finally heard movement, then a familiar type of voice.

"We here for too long! We need more meat!" a smacking sound followed by scuffling and then a sharp scream came through the door.

"We leave when I say we leave! All the food from above is gone, only rotting now." The unmistakable growls of Vorcha made her close her eyes.

_Those people lived through the entire invasion only to have Vorcha storm in and execute them. _Feeling like throwing up once more, she managed to leave without detection, and returned to the docks to call for extraction.


	32. Drop In The Ocean

Drop In The Ocean

Tali stood at her terminal in engineering, idly checking energy flow and containment on the drive core, making small adjustments as her mind wandered.

She remembered the look on Kasumi's face when she'd stepped out of the shuttle from Omega, and it reminded her heavily of her own emotions after Horizon. The experiments the Illusive Man had been running were so monstrous she couldn't get them out of her head, and she could guess just where Kasumi was now. Not lying on the couch reading as she loved to do, but more than likely was drinking herself into a stupor.

Tali sighed at the console in front of her, realizing she couldn't focus on the task while her friend wallowed in grief. Ken and Gabby just nodded to her as she walked by, probably thinking she was going to talk to Shepard.

"Keep your hands to yourselves down here while I'm gone you two." Tali's remark got a guffaw out of Ken and a suspicious blush from Gabby, but she was leaving before they could respond. Riding the elevator to the crew deck, she took the usual sharp left to the lounge/Kasumi's room. She smiled broadly as she saw Garrus leaning on the door in the hallway, apparently locked out and trying to talk to Kasumi.

"Come on now, you can't… what did Shepard call it? Hog? Yeah, you can't hog the alcohol for yourself!" He noticed Tali approaching and turned to face her.

"Glad you're here Tali, she's locked herself in there for two hours now, I'm starting to get a little worried." She stayed silent and brought up her Omnitool, isolated the door from the system, and sent the code to unlock it all in a few seconds. Garrus just smirked as she walked past him and into the lounge to find Kasumi.

"Show off." She heard him follow her in but ignored him, focusing on Kasumi slumped over the bar. Tali touched her shoulder to make sure she was still awake, then took a stool next to her as Kasumi turned her head a fraction in her direction. Kasumi's eyes were red from crying, or possibly from alcohol, but she looked back down too quickly for anything more. The first thing Tali noticed when she looked around the bar was the newly opened wine capsule, and the full glass sitting next to Kasumi's hand. It looked as if she hadn't even taken a sip, and there were no other bottles or glasses around. Tali looked back to her friend, who still had her head down and covered by her arms, then looked at the display of alcohols along the wall as she spoke.

"I remember what I did after Horizon. How I came here to lose myself from the horrible memories of that place. I remember thinking if I didn't drink, I would cry for days." She paused, but didn't look at Kasumi, she just gazed at the selection as if talking to herself.

"And you know what happened? I did both. The only reason was able to keep going was because I knew my friends needed me, that I was a vital part of the crew." She heard Garrus move up from the entrance behind them, slowly taking a stool on the opposite side of Kasumi.

"I remember what I did after Palaven got hit by the Reapers. I kept thinking about all the people who died before they even got to fight. How the fleet got decimated so fast that it shocked the galaxy. "How does someone deal with something like that?" I asked myself that more than once." He reached across the counter for another bottle of some green liquid, pouring himself a glass and taking a sip before continuing.

"I remember how I thought about my family, how they could still be alive. I thought that if anything, or anyone could save them, it was this crew and I. The people on this ship are like family to me as well, and we all helped each other." He took another swig then stared into the glass, leaving the room in silence once more.

After a few moments, Kasumi lifted her head to put her chin on her arms.

"I just, can't imagine what it must've been like on that station. All those people running and dying, all the decay and starvation…" her eyes stayed straight ahead as she spoke, never looking at either of them.

"I've seen a lot of things since joining Shepard that I can never unsee, But even Earth wasn't this horrible." Tali reached over and gently pulled Kasumi into a hug. The other woman didn't react for a moment, then latched on fiercely as she silently started crying again. Rubbing her back soothingly, Tali whispered to her.

"I know how you feel Kasumi, we've all been through horrible things. But if you ever want to talk about them, I'll be here." but instead of answering Kasumi just cried harder. Tali looked over Kasumi's shoulder at Garrus, who had as best as she could tell, a blank expression as he watched the two embrace.

"I should go." The big Turian whispered as he started to get up and walk to the door, but Kasumi turned from Tali abruptly, only to latch onto him instead.

"Thank you, both of you." She smiled up at him through her tears and tried in vain to wrap her arms around his large armored torso.

"I, um… Yeah, your welcome Kasumi." Garrus' discomfort was apparent to all and got a short laugh out of both the women.

"Sure you wont stay and have another drink?" Kasumi's voice was still a little choked up, but she was recovering fast.

_Faster than I did, that's for sure. _Tali thought to herself.

"Well I suppose another drink couldn't hurt." He let Kasumi escort him back to the bar stool and to his bottle. Garrus picked it up and turned it over in his hands with a thoughtful expression.

"Did I ever tell you about the time I beat Shepard at a shooting contest?"

Both women looked at each other in slight disbelief.

"Thought not. It was back during the Reaper invasion, we were on the citadel running some errand for a Volus, when I decided it would be fun to…"

* * *

Shepard shook his head as he left engineering, as neither engineer knew where Tali was. He thought briefly about asking EDI, but that felt like cheating. Knowing Tali she was with Kasumi, and that the little thief could be found in the oddest of places. He decided to check in on Aria while he was down there. Walking up to the door, he pounded on it a few times with no answer. Getting frustrated now, he banged on it louder. _This is __**way**__ too small a ship for everyone to go missing all at once._ He finally heard a gruff shout from behind the door.

"What?"

"Zaeed? Where's Aria?" He heard a lot of moving around before the door finally opened to admit a startlingly unkempt Aria. Her clothes were disheveled, as if she had thrown them on in a flurry, and her brows were lowered, showing him in no uncertain terms that she was pissed.

"What Shepard?" Her glare was matched in Zaeed as he walked up behind her, looking equally groped.

"This had better be damned important Shepard." He looked between the two of them with a small amount of concern for his safety.

"I was looking for Kasumi and Tali, I thought maybe you might know where they were, Kasumi was very upset after Omega and I'm worried about her." The two spoke up to answer him immediately.

"Nope, sorry."

"Haven't seen a one of um'." He blinked as the door quickly slammed in his face. Turning around slowly, he let a wide smile bloom across his face as he walked into the elevator and made for the crew deck. _About damn time those two got their act together._

He stepped into the mess hall to find it empty, even doctor Chakwas was missing from the window in the medical bay. He checked Garrus' area near the forward batteries and Miranda's room only to find them empty as well. Genuine curiosity mixed with worry fluttered around in his stomach as he continued on to the lounge.

_Maybe I should get my pistol if this rooms empty too, but where would everyone-_

His thoughts were interrupted as the door opened to an interesting scene. Garrus was standing in the middle of the room, making motions with his hands to indicate he was holding a rifle, and was retelling stories to a fair sized audience gathered around him.

"So when he threw that bottle, I was ready, I brought up my rifle and BLAM!" He shouted and pulled his shoulders back as if firing his rifle. "Knocked that bottle right outta' the sky." He blew on the imaginary smoking muzzle in victory and turned his attention to Shepard.

"Ah Shepard! Anything to add aside from, "the wind was blowing" to how I bested you?"

Garrus flashed a smile at him in mock arrogance.

"Sure I do." He took a stance that mimicked a conquering hero and spread his arms out.

"I'm Garrus Vakarian, and this is now my favorite spot on the Citadel!" the assembled group laughed at the banter, or maybe at Garrus' use of Shepard's advertisement line, he wasn't sure and didn't care. He saw Kasumi sitting next to Tali on the couch, and was relieved to see both women were laughing. The assembled friends and crewmates drifted off into their own conversations as Garrus walked out of the circle, done with his regaling, to talk with Shepard.

"Glad you could make it Shepard, for a second I thought you were going to miss the finale."

"Not on your life Vakarian. How's Kasumi doing?" they both looked at the thief for a moment, seeing her chatting excitedly with doctor Chakwas ant Tali.

"She seems better. She was pretty tore up about Omega, but we got her through it." Shepard put an arm on his friend's shoulder, shaking it a little.

"Thanks Garrus, I didn't really know what to say to her." Garrus turned a shocked face to him.

"What? The great Commander Shepard at a loss for words? You sure you're feeling well?" Shepard chuckled and took his arm off Garrus, deciding to sit by the women on the couch. Tali saw him coming and made room, letting him sit next to her then leaping in his lap.

"Where were you? You missed out on Garrus' version of your little competition." He cocked his head to look at her while she adjusted herself in his lap.

"I didn't miss it, I lived it. Besides, the wind _was_ blowing up there…" Tali elbowed his ribs playfully before continuing.

"You know, there was only three of us in here when he began that story. I honestly don't know how everybody heard about It." she looked around at the crowd in the room with what he imagined was confusion.

"Well when you're on a ship for this long you tend to find any entertainment you can." He pinched her bottom, making her give him a stern look, but her eyes indicated she was serious still.

"How long will it be this time?" He thought about her question for a moment, trying to recall what EDI had told him that morning.

"I think three to four months. Won't be too long now, we're almost there beautiful." He gave her his most winning smile, making her giggle and shake her head at the stupid look on his face before putting her face close to his, ignoring the others around them.

"No, it won't be long now, my love."


	33. Unexpected Welcome

Unexpected Welcome

Shepard sat at one of the tables in the mess hall, happily munching on a sandwich comprised of ham and lettuce, with an unopened bag of potato chips. He grabbed the bag and pulled the top apart, letting a contented smile cross his face as the scent of barbeque wafted over him. He poured a few chips onto his plate next to his sandwich that was already halfway devoured. He began tossing chips into his mouth as he listened to the conversation between the three at the table with him.

"So how did we end up getting here so much faster?" Joker was sitting on the bench opposite Shepard with EDI, while Tali sat next to him, watching him inhale his meal.

"Well Jeff, we did go faster than I anticipated, but only by about a day altogether. I told you it would take 1.6 years to arrive to pad my estimates. I hear it's something engineers do sometimes?" She looked at Tali, who was shaking her head at him while he licked the crumbs of his sandwich from his fingers, then she turned to reply.

"Yes and no, we sometimes pad our estimates to insure we take all delays and interruptions into account, thereby allowing a safety net in the schedule for the captain, should a delay occur. But we only use that in terms of how long it takes to fix things, not how long it takes to get somewhere."

"Yes, but it also helps morale. In the sense that if I tell you something good will happen in five minutes, and then present you with it in two minutes, you are happy _and _surprised because it took less time than you were told." Shepard slowed his chewing as he looked at EDI, then finally couldn't contain himself.

"Sho', what your shaying ish that you lied to us?" he spoke around a mouthful of food and got a curious look from Tali after he finished.

"Geez Commander, say it, don't spray it." Joker wiped himself off with a hint of disgust.

"Basically Shepard, yes." EDI nodded to the group, who had stopped what they were doing to stare at her. Shepard swallowed loudly before Tali decided to break the silence.

"I appreciate the attempt to make us feel better EDI, but please, in the future, don't lie to us." He nodded emphatically as he stuffed some more chips into his mouth.

"Of course Tali, I'll endeavor not to lie in the future. On another note, we are now thirty minutes away from the edge of the Perseus Veil." Tali looked at him, practically shaking at the prospect of being home. She'd been like that for a while now, ever since EDI told them how close they were, the crew seemed on edge. It had been far too long since they had been on a planet, and Ken had run out of folk songs.

"Want to watch from the lounge?" Waiting for her eager nod, he dusted his hands from the crumbs of chips and wiped his mouth with a kerchief before getting up and offering his hand. She took it and allowed him to escort her to the lounge. He looked over his shoulder at the couple behind him and stopped for a second.

"Aren't you two coming?" Joker looked at EDI for a moment before he shook his head.

"If it's all the same to you Commander, my window is better." He tipped his hat to them, and Shepard shrugged as if to say, "your loss" and then continued down the hall.

He pounded on the door as they arrived, making sure Kasumi was ready for them before entering with Tali hand in hand. The large window was closed for the moment, as Kasumi sat stretched out on the couch with a book in her hand as usual. What was unusual was Miranda standing behind the bar talking to Garrus, who sat with an interesting looking concoction of a purplish hue in his hand. Kasumi looked up from her book for a moment to give them both a smile, then snapped it closed and sat up fully.

"Hey you two! What brings you to uchi?" Her use of Japanese made him frown for a moment before he recognized it, but Tali was apparently mystified.

"Your what?" Kasumi giggled a little then spread her arms wide, indicating the whole room.

"My house."

"Oh, well we were hoping we could watch our approach to Rannoch through this window, is that ok?" Kasumi smiled at her again, the bounced off the couch and gave Tali a hug.

"What's mine is yours Tali." She pulled back from the hug and walked over to the window controls, making the shutters climb down to reveal stars and space. The three stood at the window for a minute, all suddenly lost in their thoughts, until Kasumi spoke into the quiet.

"Hard to believe isn't it, that all the things we're seeing right now is seconds, even minutes old." She reached out and touched the window as if trying to touch a distant star. All three of them jumped as Garrus voice came from behind them.

"Well I for one, think if we're going to watch the window, we should turn the couch this way." He made a motion with his hands to show the couch facing the window instead of away form it.

"What's this _we_ stuff Garrus? Go find a chair." Tali's remark got Garrus grabbing at his chest in mock pain.

"Oh ow! Somebody get some medi-gel! My pride!" he walked back to the bar to grab his drink as he wailed his fake distress to no one in particular, getting a raised eyebrow from Miranda. The Turian stopped a few feet away as the three took his advice and switched the couch around to face the window. Shepard motioned with his head for Garrus to come over to the couch anyway, but he shook his head and just stood behind the couch instead, leaning on it with his drink now in hand. Miranda too had decided to join them on the couch and sat on Kasumi's side, leaving Tali and Shepard together on the other.

"What were you doing in here Miranda? Alcohol isn't really your thing." His question made her look at him briefly, and she looked almost… happy. As opposed to her usual icy demeanor and need to get things done. She had a small smile as she turned back to watching the window.

"I was restocking the shelf with the second to last of our alcohol reserves. _Someone_ has been going through them far faster than I anticipated." She gave Garrus a glare over her shoulder, making the two women next to her laugh.

"Well I know your not talking about me drinking too much while this _**addict**_ is in the room." Garrus hooked a thumb at Shepard, earning another bout of laughter.

"Right, well between the two of you then." Miranda rolled her amused gaze to Shepard.

"Oh no, don't bring me into this now. You get talking about me and I'll have to ruffle his nonexistent feathers, and nobody wants that." Garrus nodded in exaggerated understanding.

"He's right, it could get ugly in here. We wouldn't want to see our fearless leader curled up in a ball on the floor crying now would we?"

They continued like that for a few minutes, swapping banter and venomless jokes to pass the time, until EDI declared them within one minute of entering Tikkun.

"You know, this sort of reminds me of our approach to Ilos, Shepard. You know, with a lot less pressure." Garrus shifted a little as he leaned more on the back of the couch.

"Oh really? This reminds you of having gone AWOL and stealing an Alliance warship, only to go chasing after a rogue Spectre?" Kasumi and Miranda were following the discussion with interest, probably hoping to hear the story of how they defeated Saren.

"No not like that, it's more like this is the end of a long mission… If only Wrex were here, then it would feel perfect." Tali snorted as she leaned her head on his shoulder still looking out the window in expectation.

"You mean so you could justify getting drunk?"

"Justify? After all these years, you still don't know me very well do you Tali?" Garrus tipped back his drink.

"GETH!" Tali practically screamed it as she leaped from her couch to look out the window, making Garrus spew his drink all over the room as he too saw what Tali was screaming about.

The ship had come out of FTL not too far from the planet itself, and allowed them a view of a Geth fleet orbiting just outside the planets gravity well. The silence in the room was near deafening as they stared at the impossible, but Tali broke the spell as she started scrambling away form the window towards the door. He grabbed her arm before she could dart past and she struggled furiously.

"Let me go! We have to send a message to the fleet!" He wrangled her back towards the window and pointed, making her look again. The Geth fleet was intermingled with Quarian vessels, some on patrol routes together while the unmistakable live ships loitered in the back. _She was so focused on the Geth fleet she even missed the damn live ships._

He felt the tension slowly ease from her as he held her, only to tense back up again as EDI startled them all.

"Shepard, we are being hailed by Geth, it is unclear how they identified us, but they are apparently not hotile."

"Forget how they identified us, how did they survive?"

the faces of everyone around him were incredulous as they stared out at the enormous joint fleet.

"Shepard, the Geth hailing us claims that they can explain." Shepard frowned a moment at that, but when he thought about it he understood. _AI's can transfer information faster than I can blink, it makes sense she could ask my question and have an answer before I even knew I was asking._

"They have answers huh? This I gotta hear." Garrus led the way as the group exited the small lounge to speak with a species they galaxy thought was dead.

* * *

_Sorry for the cliff hanger people. but i'm taking a short vacation and ill be back at it in a few days, thanks for reading!_


	34. Forgiven

_sorry for the lack of updates everyone, but blame at&t for their crap internet which has been on the fritz for over a week._

_I hope this is a good enough explanation to tide you over 'till our interwebs are fixed, enjoy!_

* * *

Forgiven

Shepard and Garrus led an oddly silent group to the QEC, most looked straight ahead, but some kept casting glances at the others, a spark of worry amongst the confusion. He could practically hear the doubts now. _How are they alive? Could it have something to do with their new upgrades? Could the Reapers be using the Geth even in death?_

The questions building up were born mostly out of fear of the unknown and, as he had seen before, would get even wilder until things were explained. Quickening his pace, he forced everyone to do the same until they arrived at the QEC.

Tapping a few buttons on the interface to make the connection, he stepped back to allow everyone a clear view of the ethereal Geth platform that popped into being.

"Shepard Commander, Welcome to Rannoch." The Geth had a distinctly different voice than legions; it was lower, almost baritone, and it used slight inflections to hint at emotions.

"Uh, thanks. Did you say you could explain how… this, is possible?" He made a gesture with one hand to indicate the Geth, who looked down at itself as if looking for what he was gesturing at, before looking back up and replying.

"I see, you are asking how "we" are still operational?"

"Yes, I was lead to believe that all Geth everywhere were dead from the crucible." The Geth's head flaps twitched briefly in what Shepard could've sworn was laughter.

"You assumed that because Geth in one system had died, that all were dead without exception? I do not see how you can come to such a conclusion with such limited data."

Shepard looked at the group behind him for support, but most were still slightly slack jawed at talking to a Geth after being assured they were dead. A few had shaken off the shock and were formulating questions of their own. Tali stepped up from the crowd first.

"So then how are you here? The beam from the crucible hit every system with a relay and destroyed all Reaper technology and code, which includes you." The Geth nodded at her in understanding and looked back to the group as a whole to answer, a trait Legion had never picked up.

"You are correct Creator Zorah, in that the Crucible hit every system with a mass relay. However, the Geth have many platforms outside the range of those systems. For example, the radius of the blast that overtook Tikkun was approximately 35.6 light years from the center, allowing all units outside that range to emerge intact. These units failed to notice any adverse effects from the Crucible's beam, and have continued assisting the Creators in rebuilding Rannoch."

After hearing it's explanation he practically slapped himself for not having thought of it before. _His explanation, not it's. They're sentient beyond question now, if the emotions this guy is portraying aren't just for show. _He stepped forward a little before addressing the Geth again.

"And how do you already have a replacement fleet? You've only had a year to rebuild!" The Geth cocked his head slightly and made that twitching motion with his head flaps again.

"You forget Shepard Commander, Geth do not sleep, we do not tire, nor require sustenance aside form routine repairs, we have had 1.2 years of non stop ship building from the drydock in the Rydoe System approximately forty light years from Tikkun. We have also had sufficient numbers to rebuild the relay for this system and a few others. There are more of us than you might think." Shepard stood aghast as he thought about the resources and numbers needed to achieve what the Geth claimed to have achieved, but gave up at the sheer numbers involved. Miranda, apparently stirred by all the talk about logistics, decided to speak.

"That would require thousands, maybe tens of thousands of units to achieve!"

Garrus cocked his head and wore his usual amused grin.

"Industrious little bastards. They've done in less than two years what it took the Turian military decades. I saw at least four frigates out there, and those usually take at least a year apiece. Not to mention all the others I didn't see." Their Geth ambassador didn't answer, apparently not seeing anything to add until Kasumi spoke up.

"What other relays did you restore?" He looked at her for a moment, his flaps flaring momentarily until he replied.

"We have had insufficient time to restore any relays outside of Geth space, but three are functional, while a fourth is underway. …Was there somewhere in particular you wanted to go?" Shepard's jaw dropped as he heard the unmistakable attempt at humor from the platform, then an incredulous smile spread across his face as EDI decided to step in.

"Have your systems truly upgraded so far as to allow humor?" Her voice was very well drenched in sarcasm, but the unit apparently didn't catch it as he proceeded to explain himself.

"I have looked into certain aspects of organic culture since I was built. I find humor the most… intriguing. We are all attempting to find a way to integrate into organic society, and whatever traits prove most effective, we will use. So far, humor has worked the best with the creators, but it is impossible to ascertain how other species will react from such a small test group." Shepard was exchanging amused glances with his team, who were all either recovering from shock or stifling laughter. As he looked at them all, his smile slowly turned into a confused frown.

"Wait a minute, why were so many of you out of the fight at Sol and way out here?" the group behind him quickly quieted as they too thought about it.

"Most Geth units were in fact at the battle against the old machines, but a portion were left at certain resource rich systems for mining and new unit production. Only seven percent of our overall strength in units were left on Rannoch to assist the creators, we did not wish to leave so few, but the war demanded our numbers. We wished to apologize, creator Zorah." The Geth made a small bow in Tali's direction, which it maintained until she spoke.

"Actually it's Tali Shepard now, and if not for you and your people, we would have far less than we do, thank you." Tali returned the small bow and the Geth nodded it's appreciation.

"Thank you creator Admiral. Legion always told us you were a very unique organic, I am pleased to see it was not due to a faulty processor." The Geth's continued attempts at humor made Shepard shake his head in amusement. _Well it's working, just not for the reasons he thinks._ Watching the killers from Eden Prime giving witty remarks aimed at making people laugh was in itself amusing. A thought struck him as he was chuckling at the Geth's joke, and he coughed his laugh away and asked.

"Can I assume you are our liaison to the Geth?" he waited for the machine to nod before continuing. "Then you're going to need a name." The Geth's flaps rose up and sat there for a moment, looking almost comically surprised at the question, but it _did_ answer.

"I already have a name Shepard Commander. We chose names for ourselves for organic convenience, as you cannot differentiate between Geth platforms. This unit in particular has been chosen as your liaison for my interest in Human culture." The machine stood up taller and straighter in what could only be called pride before it finished.

"I am Aristotle, named after the famed Human philosopher from Earth, and your terminal to the Geth." Shepard smiled at the Geth's obvious pride in his choice of name.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Aristotle." He turned to face his team and made a shooing motion as he began.

"Ok everybody, you can all chat him up later but I need to speak with him privately." A chorus of disappointment rang through the small room before they started shuffling out and into the war room behind them. He waited for the room to empty completely, with the exception of Tali, who stood at his side while he turned back to the ambassador for the Geth.

"Shepard Commander, is everything alright?" there was genuine concern in his voice as he spoke.

"I'm not sure Aristotle, um, would it be ok if I just called you Al?" the machine looked at him, its head flaps once again twitching as it thought about it.

"We find this acceptable, what is your reason for distress?" Shepard looked down for a moment to gather his thoughts, then looked back up and told the Geth his version of what happened at the Crucible. How he willingly chose to decimate this race of beings to achieve victory, how it was all his fault that the Geth suffered so heavily; His greatest failure as well as a victory. His voice echoed the pain he'd carried in his soul since that day, and just speaking the words was like overcoming an avalanche of emotion.

When he finally finished it was in a whisper, and Tali comforted him with a strong hug while Al stood watching quietly, digesting this new information. After a few moments Al finally moved a little, then refocused his eye on Shepard.

"Why have you told us this, Shepard Commander?" He reluctantly unwrapped Tali's arms from him and answered Al.

"I told you because it's weighed heavily on me for over a year, I couldn't bear the thought that I had killed an entire race, but most importantly, I never got the chance to ask if it was a decision you agreed with. I forced it on you, and now I feel that telling you the truth is the only way for me to even come close to making up for all those deaths. In essence, Aristotle, I'm sorry. I know it's not enough, but it's the best I can do." The head flaps jerked as Shepard finished, and Al stood rigidly for a moment, looking between the two beings in front of him. When he eventually spoke it was haltingly.

"Given the choices you were provided on the Crucible, we have reached a consensus of 98.3 that this was the correct choice. For a single organic mind, we find your decision-making skills incredibly effective. To summarize, we agree with your choice, Shepard Commander, there is no need for an apology." Shepard gave a small smile and breathed a sigh of relief. _I never thought I'd ask a Geth for forgiveness, but no one deserves what I did to them._

"Thank you Al, that means more to me than you can guess."

"You are welcome, Shepard Commander. If there is nothing else, I'm afraid I must go for now. It was a pleasure to meet the great Commander, Legion also spoke very highly of you." He gave a slight bow and cut the connection.

"He needs to work on his exit, but that went quite well." Tali took his arm and they left the QEC to see what awaited them amongst the joint fleets orbiting Rannoch.


	35. We Made It

We Made It

Shepard stared out of the starboard side observation window on the crew deck, resting in the rows of seats to the left of the center isle leading to the door. As he gazed out into space, he felt the weight on his arm readjust as Tali found a more comfortable spot to lean on him from. The two of them had been staring out into space since the meeting with "Aristotle" and contemplating the peach colored ball that was Rannoch and all it meant for them. They had been watching it grow larger as they drew even closer to the orbiting fleets until it nearly filled the view port, allowing them to make out the features and textures of the various ships and tugs that roamed the area looking for the last scraps from the battle for Rannoch. Some of the new Geth ships were truly massive in scope, but none quite as long as the dreadnaught he and his crew had saved Legion from.

He looked away from the window to watch Tali, who was still leaning her head on his shoulder and watching her home world grow ever larger through the purple fog of her visor. He caressed the hood over her head, eliciting a soft comforted sigh.

"You ready to get off the this Ship for the first time in months?" Tali didn't look up, instead she just reached her hand up to grab his and hold it as she replied.

"You know I'm a Quarian, right?"

"Oh yes, yes I'm well aware." He let his eyes roam over her suited form sitting against him, and his lustful tone got a giggle out of her.

"Not now Shepard, we are meeting with the fleet soon. I'm rather curious as to how long ago they arrived from Earth. If it was a while ago, they could well have the other main relays up soon." He nodded as he turned again to look out the window.

"True, but it will take a long time to mine enough materials to recreate something that large. But maybe our friend Al will help with that, hmm?" Tali slowly adjusted herself so she could look up at him from her leaning position on his arm which, he noted, was definitely starting to fall asleep.

"What's that supposed to mean? Something I should know about?" He gave her a lazy smile as he gazed into her eyes.

"Well talking with Al gave me an idea. If the Geth can rebuild that many relays that quickly, why not ask them to help out with the others? They can garner some good will from the other peoples of the galaxy and possibly integrate into whichever society they would like. Though I must admit, that last seems like asking for too much from the average person." He finished with a slight frown, thinking of the possible outrage of a Geth trying to live like a normal person.

Tali seemed to sense his agitation and gently cupped his chin, rubbing his cheek with one of her three long fingers.

"It will be hard, and not everyone will get along with them, but the Geth deserve at least a _chance_ at being a part of society. They've earned that much from all of us." His frown melted like so much snow in the desert as he looked at her with a renewed smile.

"No argument here beautiful, I'm just glad you feel that way. It seems I vaguely remember one young Quarian woman who just _**hated**_ the Geth, but for the life of me I just cant think of her name…" For a moment she had a puzzled set to her eyes, as though she too was trying to remember such a woman, but as he wound down they became increasingly narrow in what he'd come to recognize as a smile.

"Well I'm sure that woman's name will come to you eventually." She playfully draped herself across his lap face up so she could continue to look at him.

"Yes, you're probably right. Though I do remember she had these _**amazing **_hips, and those legs, oh! Don't get me started." Tali's long fingers slid across his face in a caress as she looked up at him and giggled.

"I love you too John." Her voice was soft but her fingers left his face as she got herself off his lap.

"Now come on, auntie Raan might be there and I would love to see her again, not to mention we still need to speak with the Admirals." He furrowed his forehead at her in confusion before heaving himself up from his seat.

"Wait, why do we need the Admirals?"

"We need to speak with them about when and where we can put up our house, John." She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed as if explaining it to a child.

_ When it comes to Quarian zoning laws I might as well be._

"So they still have power? I thought they were just for times of war and emergencies?" Tali's foot stopped tapping and she cocked her head in thought.

"I don't know, actually. The conclave might have declared there was no longer a need for marshal law and removed the Admirals from civilian life; or they might want the Admirals in charge until the settlements on the planet are safe. Either way, we wont find out by sitting here, now come on!" snatching his hand from his side, she started to drag him out of the room and into the hall. He took a step toward her and grabbed her around the waist. Pulling himself toward her using her own backward momentum to propel him while he scooped her off the ground, then slung her over his shoulder.

"Ah! Shepard, what are you doing you-!" she squealed again when he pinched her bottom and carried her down the hall to the elevator while she struggled in indignation.

A bemused Garrus watched them pass by from the mess hall and gave Tali a wave as he munched on his meal.

"Garrus! Help me you bosh tet'!" Garrus swallowed his mouthful and laughed out a choked reply.

"Well when you say it so nicely, how can I resist?" he continued to sit and watch as Shepard bundled her into the elevator. They heard Garrus shout "good luck!" from around the corner before the doors slid shut and he set Tali back on her own feet. She immediately assumed a combat stance to defend against some other attempt to humiliate her, but he just smiled. Seeing his face, she growled in her throat and shook her head then turned to stare at the elevator doors.

"You're lucky it was only Garrus who saw that, or I would have to be _very_ upset with you John." He chuckled and followed her example by looking at the doors instead of at her.

"I'm sorry gorgeous, you were so cute I just had to pick you up myself." He saw her look at him from the corner of his eye and turned his head a fraction to look back, the grin on his face undiminished. She snorted and shook her head again before laughing and giving him a tight hug.

"You _are_ a bosh tet', you know this, right?" her voice was a little muffled as her speaker was smashed into his chest, but her smile was as clear to him as if they were in his cabin with her helmet off.

"Of course I know that beautiful, it's why you love me so much." His whisper got a soft laugh from her before she pulled back and they exited the elevator together. As they approached Jokers hideout, the pilot swiveled around in his chair and gave a shout.

"Hey Commander! So I guess the Geth are all okay huh? Unless the Quarians decided to make more themselves."

"That seems highly unlikely Jeff." EDI too swiveled around to face them, giving Joker a fond look as she did so.

"Thanks mom."

"Alright alright that's enough, now do we know where we are docking? Admiral Koris' message mentioned a certain ship." Shepard checked his Omnitool for his messages and found the note he'd gotten from the Admiral shortly after his chat with AL.

"I'm not so sure it _is_ a ship Commander, those coordinates he gave don't match with anything but the planets surface." Shepard exchanged glances with Tali before looking back to his pilot.

"Well… can we land there?"

"Sure, if you don't mind us getting there in tiny pieces. The Quarians shiny new defense fleet is still processing the orders from the Admiral and until they do… we're stuck." Joker shrugged and swiveled back to his console rapidly pressing buttons until a voice came over the speaker.

"This is Korla Silias of the Geth fleet. Please, remain where you are until we establish Creator Admiral Koris' landing order." The synthetic voice was much lighter in pitch and tone, allowing for an almost feminine portrayal over the comm. link.

"Korla, this is Commander Shepard council spectre. I need to speak with whoever is in charge of the landing clearances." There was a brief pause as the Geth on the other line communicated.

"Shepard Commander, we acknowledge your Spectre status and you now have full clearance to land. Admiral Koris wishes to speak with you at your earliest convenience, sorry for the inefficient security Commander, but the creators insisted upon it." Shepard smiled at the last and spoke with a joking tone.

"Of course Korla, inefficient superiors are a way of life amongst organics, and no, I couldn't explain it to you. I can tell you from former experience however, that all you can do is try your best to help streamline the process. Thank you for the clearance though, and good luck!" He signaled Joker to cut the connection with a slash motion over his neck.

"Ok Joker, take us down."

"Aye aye Commander. You'll be arriving in style." Joker had his usual grin as they plummeted closer to the planet.

Tali still stood next to him, watching through the cockpit glass as her world grew larger before her, and he watched as her eyes roamed all over it's surface; as if trying to take in every detail at once. He moved to put his arms around her shoulders and worked as much nervousness out as he could find with his fingers.

"You ok Tali?" she kept staring at the planet in front of her in almost childlike fascination.

"I keep thinking back to when we were here last Shepard, but I can barely remember anything except our missions, or what was shooting at me. I barely got to see it at all."

Her voice was a whisper that barely escaped her masks speakers. He continued kneading his fingers over her neck and shoulders as he contemplated what to say.

"I know Tali. But this time, you can see it all, and for as long as you want." She stayed quiet for a time, just gazing over the planet in awe. She abruptly turned to face him, practically quivering, whether with excitement or nerves he couldn't tell.

"Do you remember the spot I picked out? Where you gave me that rock? There was a cliff, not far from there that would have a perfect view of the ocean." Looking into her eyes and seeing her brimming with anticipation, he gave her his fondest smile and leaned his head to tap against her helmet.

"As you wish, my queen. So shall it be. We made it Tali… We made it."


	36. Landings

Landings

Shepard stood in the airlock near the cockpit with Tali by his side as they waited for the ship to touch down on Rannoch, shifting occasionally as the ship eased its way down gently. A few minutes had passed since he'd ushered Tali into the airlock, and not a word was said as they waited, as both of them were eager for the first sight of their new home. He looked down in surprise as his Omnitool beeped at him and accepted the call.

"Ok Commander we're all set, we have officially landed on Rannoch. There's a small town about a quarter of a mile from the landing site, and a few vehicles are parked next to us. Looks like the Admirals decided to give you a personal welcome." Tali was bouncing on her toes as she heard the news, no doubt eager to see Shala'Raan again.

"Thanks Joker, lower the hatch ramp would you? I'd rather not have to jump." He heard Joker acknowledge him, but at the same time his mind was jerked toward the airlock door as it began to cycle open and allowed him his first glance at a peaceful Rannoch.

Warm wind swept across him, carrying a heavy scent that he couldn't quite place but tickled his memory. The plains stretched out before him in an endless green and yellow flatland, interrupted only by the town Joker mentioned and the mountains far in the background. He grabbed Tali's hand and squeezed, before leading her down to the waiting group below them. The Admirals were in a group at the base of the ramp in no particular order, except Raan was the closest. Admiral Koris looked to be happy to see them, but Admiral Garrel stood towards the back with his arms crossed. There was no sign of Xen though.

_So Admiral Garrel is still upset with us, this could complicate things. _

His thoughts were interrupted by Admrial Raan spreading both arms wide in greeting.

"Shepard, Tali, Welcome to Rannoch." Tali leaped into her aunts open arms and gave a thorough hug, while Shepard made the last few steps down to stand in front of the other Admirals. Koris was the first to approach him, and he extended his hand for Shepard to shake as he spoke in his oddly lazy accent.

"It's good to see you again Shepard, I'm glad you arrived safely."

"Yes, we're all thrilled." Garrel's voice was drenched in sarcasm, and it made Shepard want to punch him all over again.

"Look Admiral Garrel, I realize we aren't friends, but if all your going to do is insult me you might as well leave. I won't have you ruining my wife's homecoming, it's far too important to her, and I'll be damned if I let some warmonger get in our way." Garrel puffed his chest out and stood his ground.

"You fail to realize we are no longer on your ship Commander. This is _my_ planet, and you will not presume to give orders to me. Were it not for your actions in helping to retake our world and the other Admirals insistence, I would have you removed from here in a heartbeat!" Suddenly Tali was past him and in Garrel's face in a flash, making the Admiral take a few steps back in surprise.

"How _dare_ you speak to him like that! This man single-handedly won our world back, and saved our people from your foolish and failed attempt to assault the Geth! And as for his punching you on the Normandy, you should consider yourself lucky I don't do it again for him right now! No Admiral worth the name would be angry with the sole savior of not only Rannoch, but the entire Galaxy. And if you presume to threaten my bond-mate even one more time Admiral, I will propose a vote to have you disbarred as an Admiral from the fleet for reckless actions against a foreign dignitary." Shepard looked at Tali with eyebrows practically touching his hairline, and Garrel was no better as he sputtered and fumed, but Raan stepped in before he could do something he would regret.

"Stand down Han! Now is not the time, if you have a problem with them then you can settle it later." Han glared between Raan and Shepard, then threw up his hands and walked to his air car.

When the dust cleared from his exit, he saw Tali relax and stopped watching the vehicle to face Raan and Koris.

"Is this going to be a problem Admirals? The last thing we need is someone in power who's angry at us." Raan shook her head and sighed, but it was Koris who answered.

"I can't truly say Shepard, Raan and I will do what we can for you of course, but Xen and Garrel are not fond of either of you as of now." Raan nodded and finished the thought.

"Xen is upset because the Geth are not ours, and that's mostly your doing as well."

He shook his head in consternation and closed his eyes, trying desperately to calm himself before his anger demanded he go find the other man and beat him into pulp.

"Why don't we move this meeting inside hmm? No sense standing out in the sun." Admiral Koris gestured to the air cars and moved toward his own. Shepard noticed with some amusement that these air cars looked amazingly similar to an old fashioned Earth road car convertible, but the roofs weren't just down, they were gone completely. Whether that was on purpose or not he couldn't tell and found he didn't care.

"I think I'll go with Raan, Shepard. I'll see you in a bit ok?" she caressed his arm before she jogged off and got in the other vehicle, while Koris waved him over. He piled in to the back seat and slapped the safety harness on before the Admiral took off from the ground in a plume of dust.

As they hurtled toward the small town, Shepard looked over his shoulder in search of Raan's car, but saw them flying off in another direction instead of following. He leaned forward in his harness and tapped Koris' shoulder to get his attention.

"Where are they going?" he had to raise his voice to be heard over the wind and the engine, but the Admiral looked over his shoulder and saw them for himself before he gave a shrug.

"I have no idea Shepard. I'm sure we'll be clued in if they want us to be." Shepard frowned after the fleeing vehicle, but eventually followed Koris' example and shrugged, turning his attention to the town they were approaching.

The buildings were mostly square in their architecture, but looked unimaginative. Likely due to the Geth being the ones building most of the actual structures. There were rows of prefabs outside of the newer buildings in what might resemble an older Earth version of a suburb, with much more personalization on them than their newer counterparts. Compared to the Geth built buildings, the suburb was a riot of colors and symbols, with everything from ship banners to murals and paintings. From his vantage he could see lots of movement among the homes; some were gardening or working on some aspect or another of their homes, while some floated and played in the forked creeks next to the village. He smiled at the activity that bustled around beneath them as they flew over. _This is what victory should look like, and it's also how I know we won._

Taking his eyes off the village, he watched Koris gently guide the car into a landing outside of a large white Geth built building that had a banner draped over it's side from the roof. Shepard studied it as he extricated himself from his safety harness and got out of the vehicle. It had a dark purple background and a white symbol at its center; beneath the symbol were lines of what could only be Keelish in a flowing script. Koris must've seen him stop at the banner, as he changed direction and stood next to Shepard to look at it as well.

"It is an ancient symbol for our Government, we only use it to proclaim that there are members of the ruling body within." Shepard frowned as he thought about the implications of that.

"So, do you have to put this up at every building you or another admiral enters?" Koris' gave him a sidelong glance before he answered.

"No we don't necessarily _have_ to, but if someone needed to speak with the conclave or an Admiral, it would be a great inconvenience if it were not up. I'm sure you have something much like it in the Alliance." Shepard started to shake his head but stopped as he thought about it some more.

"Well we do have flags for our governing body, but we use the same building for government, and all it's business is conducted at the same location." The Admiral turned in what Shepard thought looked like shock.

"Then how do you stop people from trying to kill your government in one attack If they are always in the same place?" Shepard found himself confused as he looked at the other man, and found he had questions of his own.

"Well it's heavily defended of course, but how do you keep your own people safe?" Koris nodded his head slowly in understanding as he replied.

"I forgot about Human tendencies for confrontation Commander, you seek to kill whatever threat would harm your government, while we Quarians seek to avoid an incident entirely. We move our locations all the time, never knowing where we will be next until the conclave decides upon a place. Though I must admit, it does get tiring. Perhaps you Humans have the right idea." The Admiral gave a small sigh and continued into the building with Shepard following close behind.

* * *

Tali sat in the seat next to her Aunt as they watched the ocean throw up sprays of foam from smashing against the rocks. They had decided to go to the ocean to talk, rather than endure what was likely to be another fight between Han and Koris. _Or maybe it would be between Han and Shepard now. _Her mind continued to roam as the sun fell slowly downward, lighting up the ocean with flashes of light glinting off of it's churning surface.

"Is everything alright Tali? You seem troubled child." Raan's voice held genuine concern as she looked at Tali.

"I'm ok Auntie Raan, I just didn't expect Han to be so aggressive towards us." The older woman nodded sadly, but looked back out over the sea when she finally spoke.

"Han is a warrior Tali, It's all he knows. And I'm not sure what he's going to do now that there is no more war. He spends his time at the conclave spouting ridiculous reasons why we still need a constant vigil against the Geth, and quite frankly, he's quickly becoming a dead weight to the board." She looked down at her hands and turned them over and over in front of her, as if inspecting them for some flaw.

"You don't think he'd keep us from getting a home, do you?" Tali's question seemed to draw Raan out of her thoughts and back into the present.

"I don't think so Tali, but I do think you did a marvelous job of defending your bond-mate. Rael would've been so proud." She reached across to touch Tali's mask in a gentle and comforting way.

"Thank you auntie Raan, but I'm pretty sure my father would've _hated_ him, and probably scolded me for not finding another Quarian instead." Raan chuckled to herself as she pulled her hand back and replied.

"I think he would've been just fine with this Tali, you found a man who wants nothing more than to make you happy. It shouldn't matter what species or race he's from." Tali blushed a little at the statement, but couldn't help the smile that lit up her face. They sat quietly for a while more and watched the oceans ceaseless tide as it did it's best to pulverize the cliff.

The sun was almost touching the horizon when Raan spoke again.

"Have you thought about where you are going to build it?" she didn't need to explain what "it" was to Tali.

"I was thinking we could build on the cliff face near where we first landed on Rannoch. If I remember right, there was a very nice view of the ocean from there." Tali adjusted the polarization settings on her visor, allowing her to watch the sun as it began to sink below the seemingly endless ocean.

"That's far from any towns Tali, are you sure you won't live near others instead?" Tali smiled as she thought about living near others. _If I'm not mistaken, Zaeed was planning on living here. I wonder if he can convince Aria to as well?_

"We might not be so alone auntie Raan, there was another on our ship that expressed a want to live here as well." The Admirals head turned a fraction as she eyed her niece suspiciously.

"Really? Which one might that be? Please tell me it's not the small human girl who drank too much during the celebration at your bonding." Tali frowned for a minute as she tried to think of who Raan was speaking of, but "small human" and "drank too much" were the give-aways.

"No auntie Raan, Jack wasn't interested in living here. I was speaking about Zaeed, he's an older looking human, the one who had the badly scarred face?" Tali tried to coax the memory out of her and was rewarded with a sound of disgust as her aunt remembered.

"Well regardless of who it is, you will need to ask for the land through the conclave. Although, after as much time as we have spent here your mate might have already done all of that." Tali looked again at the sun and saw only a sliver was above the horizon now as Raan spoke again.

"Come on Tali, let's get back and save your mate from the ferocious Han Garrel." Tali chuckled as the vehicle left the ground and rumbled it's way into the air.


	37. Admiralty Board Games

Admiralty Board Games

Shepard sat in the Conclave chambers, resting his head in one hand as he worried about Tali. He lifted his head to give another glance at the clock on his Omnitool, then let his head fall back down to the table in front of him with a loud thump. He wanted to sleep off his boredom; at least until Tali showed up, but the 32-hour day cycle was making that rather difficult.

_Maybe Zaeed had the right idea, this is ridiculous. _The old mercenary had left with Aria about two hours ago, rather than sit and listen to the constant bickering of the conclave. Everyone else on the ship was out exploring the village just outside, but he was stuck in here. Shaking his head for what felt like the millionth time since being told to wait, when he had said his matter was not "urgent". _Big, big mistake._

He let himself tune back in to what was being said, and instantly grew bored of it.

"…We can't allow the southern continent to have _all _of the farming machinery, unless we want to be completely dependant on them for our food." Admiral Koris sat among the other Admirals, all of whom were there, with the exceptions of Raan and Tali. The room was arranged in a large semi circle, allowing the members of the Conclave to all face the center stage, where the Admirals sat to address problems and debate important issues. The whole setup had the distinct feeling of being a temporary accomadation.

Admiral Gerrel stood up to replace Koris with a rebuttal.

"You and I both know we aren't suggesting sending _all_ of the farming equipment, just the majority. They have far better farmland than we do and it would simply expedite our food growing capacities." Xen spoke before Han could even sit back down.

"Yes, giving _them_ the majority of our equipment helps _us_ grow more. Of course, how foolish of me." Her sarcasm made Han'Gerral's hands curl into a ball, but he managed to restrain himself from an outburst.

"I meant our combined stores. If we let this devolve into our settlements versus theirs, then the whole point of retaking our planet was moot." Some members of the Conclave disliked the statement, standing from their seats and shouting, but most remained quiet.

There were only a hundred or so Conclave members at the meeting, so he had to assume they weren't ship captains, but village leaders instead. So far as he could tell, the Quarians had only made a hundred or so towns and villages, most cramped together to form small cities. But until they had their construction industry fully underway, making true cities instead of prefab collages would be difficult.

"I propose a vote, majority rules for who gets the farm equipment." One of the conclave members shouted over his colleagues, only to be shot down by another.

"You'd like that wouldn't you? We both know there's more people on the northern continent, but we have the best soil to use it on!" Another stood up and shook a fist as he yelled.

"So we should just give you our only hope of feeding ourselves on the chance you do well? Over my dismantled ship!" the room quickly exploded into shouting and arguments, while the Admirals tried desperately to restore order. Shepard laughed to himself as he watched the bickering around him, not in any real amusement, but at the similarities he saw between these people and his own government.

_Well, Tali did say they were a very social people. But how they ever get anything done in this is beyond me._

As the situation continued to deteriorate, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You look amused Commander, might I ask why?" Shala'Raan pulled a seat back from his table at sat next to him, while Tali sat on his otherside.

"I was just thinking how much like the our government this is, but without the false smiles and political correctness." Raan watched him as he smiled at the shouting and fighting, while the other Admirals vainly attempted to get everyone's attention.

"And how do your people resolve such things?" she made a vague gesture with one hand at the crowd, but kept her attention on him.

"Well, I cant remember ever seeing Human politics turn out quite like this, but usually they have a recess until the members can get a hold of themselves." Raan just looked around for a moment before giving a tired sigh.

"I see. Well I suppose we better get down there Tali." She pushed herself up and walked down the isle to join her fellow Admirals. Tali remained where she was for a moment, her eyes roaming over his face, before she too lifted herself up to follow Raan.

"Go get um' gorgeous!" he had to yell to be heard over the cacophony of shouts, making her miss a step and look around to see if anyone heard what he'd called her. Shaking her head at him, she continued to the center of the room. As Tali and Raan took their places, the crowd finally started to quiet down, making Koris and Gerral slump into their chairs as if exhausted from yelling.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Please, calm yourselves!" Admiral Xen attempted to take charge of the situation as the last few diehards stopped yelling at each other.

"We will have to come back to this topic at a later date, we need to address the other issues before us." Xen raised her Omnitool and brought up the next item on the Admiralty board's list.

"We move on to personal requests from the populace to their respective town leaders. Please look at the list I have forwarded and make your decisions. Any complaints should be directed to the board for review." Xen sat down with a bored sigh, clearly believing she had much better places to be. The Conclave members all brought up their Omnitools and went through the lists of requests, while a small buzz of conversation slowly built up throughout the room.

He watched Tali as she fidgeted in her seat in front of everyone, still clearly uncomfortable with being in the spotlight. She looked up at him where he sat at the back of the room, and saw his huge smile, deciding to give her a thumbs up for good measure. He saw her put her hand over her mask in what he assumed was embarrassment before someone spoke over the low hum of people talking.

"Is this right? I have a housing request from Commander Shepard!" It was an older Quarian, his voice was raspy ad his suit a near relic compared to his nearby colleagues, all of whom were gathering around to double check him. Shepard sat further into his seat and put his hands behind his back, retaining his smile as he watched the excited murmurs and gesturing. They apparently hadn't noticed him sitting in the back of the room for the last two and a half hours.

"That is correct elder Jo'Hasha, The Commander has requested a plot of land in your jurisdiction." Koris' voice was bland as usual, it seemed the man couldn't help it.

Elder Jo'Hasha pushed his way through the crowd of his fellow Quarians and started heading toward the exit, and incidently, towards Shepard. He quickly leaned forward and put his hands in his lap as the elder approached. The man almost walked right past him before Shepard could get his attention.

"Elder Jo'Hasha? Are you looking for me?" The old Quarian stopped and glared at him for a moment, giving Shepard the impression that if he'd had them, the old man would be adjusting a pair of spectacles to get a better look at him.

"Shepard?" he moved in closer, inspecting him as he answered.

"That's me sir."

"Keelah! It's an honor to meet you, truly." He extended a hand for him to shake as the older man continued to gush.

"Commander Shepard, living in my community? Oh Keelah! This is quite exciting, not quite as exciting as bullets whizzing by mind you, but much, much more welcome." Jo'Hasha spoke in such a slow voice it would make an Elcor blush, but the enthusiasm was definitely there.

"Thank you sir, and finding something exciting that doesn't have anything to do with bullets has been a life long dream of mine." He smiled broadly to show he was joking, but the man didn't laugh. Instead he looked back towards the Admiralty board and at Tali, before looking back at him.

"Seems to me like you found it already boy." Shepard could sense a smile behind the Elders mask, but it wasn't a taunting or belittling one. Shepard too looked at Tali sitting next to the other Admirals, watching her as she answered questions from the conclave and fidgeted some more.

"I most certainly have sir. Tali means everything to me."

"And might I ask why you want this plot of land? It is prime real estate where you want to go, being next to the ocean as it is." The Elder drew up a chair and watched him as he continued to stare down at Tali.

"It's very close to where we first landed on this planet… she asked if Quarians could get used to living in one place again, since they were so used to caring their homes with them." Shepard looked down at his hands, remembering vividly the feel of the rock, the texture from the dust and silt that cascaded from it as he plucked it from the ground and handed it to Tali.

"I picked up one of the rocks and handed it to her…" He smiled as he saw her in his minds eye, twisting coyly as she took the rock and looked up at him.

_It's a start._

"Shepard? You ok?" the old Quarian shook his shoulder a little as Shepard shook of the daydream to look at him.

"Keelah, I haven't seen a face like the one you just had in a long time. Not since my Miera died. You love that girl, and that's good enough for me. Enjoy the land son, make her happy." The man slowly stood from his chair and turned for the exit, while Shepard was still working his mouth in astonishment. As the Elder left, Shepard looked back towards Tali, making his astonishment melt into a face splitting smile.

_We did it, beautiful. I'll build you that house yet._

Unable to contain it anymore, he pumped his fist and laughed his victory, ignoring the stares from the conclave members who heard him and grinning like an idiot.

When he finally got the excited jitters from out of his stomach and calmed down a little, his smile started to slowly slide from his face as he remembered something. Standing from his chair, he walked out of the Conclave building and searched the streets, looking for Jo'Hasha. After a minute more, he saw the Elder shuffling into his air car at the far end of the landing area. As Shepard jogged closer, the old man apparently noticed him and stopped to watch him approach.

"Everything alright Commander?" the fragility in the mans voice sounded almost painful to Shepard. _Nobody lives forever, it's just too bad is all_. Ignoring his thoughts, he walked closer to the man.

"I forgot at the time Jo'Hasha, I have-"

"Just Hasha boy, only the Conclave calls me Jo'Hasha."

"Right, Hasha. I forgot to mention earlier that there should be another request in there from another Human, can you give me a call on the Normandy after you've reviewed it?" the old Quarian looked hard at him for a moment, then brought up his Omnitool. After a few seconds he tapped some more buttons then closed his tool, looking back up at Shepard.

"That fella, Zaeed? Did I say that right? You want him as a neighbor? You both do know that the actual town is over a mile away from those cliffs." It wasn't so much a statement as a question, but Shepard chuckled at it.

"I'm counting on it Hasha, if we had anyone else with Zaeed nearby, they'd never get a full nights rest." The other man cocked his head at him for a second, and then shook it tiredly.

"Well tell him he's approved. Youth is wasted on the young, I swear." He continued mumbling as he got into his car and waved before he flew off over the town.

As he turned back to return to the Conclave meeting he saw almost everyone was leaving. There was a great crowd at the entrance as people moved to their cars to go home, as the sun was far below the horizon and dark was fast approaching. He spotted Tali struggling through the crowd and waved her over, watching her as she waded through conclave members like one would through a swamp.

"Thank Keelah that's over, did you really sit there for the entire time we were gone?"

He nodded his head sadly, earning himself a pat of what could've been sympathy, but probably wasn't, on his bottom.

"Come on John, let's get back to the Normandy." She continued past him and left him looking around in confusion.

"Tali, we don't have a vehicle. I used Koris' and you used Raan's air car to get here, so how are we getting back?" almost as if to punctuate his words the Normandy's shuttle flew in low over the buildings, making a few other cars that were trying to get out of the lot move for fear of being smashed. The shuttle landed in the center of the lot, the hatch popping up on either side as the autopilot kept the engines running.

"Hurry up Shepard, Your wife wants to speak with you… alone." He smiled as she hopped up to the deck and took a seat.

"Yes ma'm."


	38. New Surroundings

New Surroundings

Shepard awoke with a start as hands shook him from his deep sleep, making him wince at the bright light covering the room. He groaned a protest before he snatched what covers he could from around him and pulled them up over his head.

"Oh no you don't, get up John!" He heard Tali's voice outside the sheets and sighed heavily as she ripped them back off of him.

"Why?" he croaked pathetically.

"Because it's morning. And because I was hoping you would take me to breakfast." She jumped on the bed and laid next to him, doing her morning ritual of tracing the lines of his face with her slender fingers. He did his best to open his eyes and look at her, noting she had her mask off as he did. Giving her the best smile he could muster, he reached out to touch her face as well.

"Of course beautiful, what kind of breakfast did you have in mind?" leaning her face into his hand, she closed her eyes as if to savor the feeling.

"I was thinking we could grab some food from the Normandy's stores and explore our new plot of land. Which reminds me, how did you get Jo'Hasha to approve our request?" Shepard smiled even more broadly as he thought about the Elder.

"He asked why we wanted the land, so I told him." Tali looked at him skeptically for his short and vague answer, but left it alone as he continued.

"Why don't we get you some real food today? Hasha said the village wasn't too far away from our spot, and I'm sure Quarians have something akin to a diner." He threw the blankets the rest of the way off of him and stood up from his bed to stretch.

"A diner? Shepard please, that will probably be expensive, let's just eat from our-"

"No Tali, I don't care if it's expensive. You're going to have a full Quarian breakfast and you're going to like It." he gave her an exaggerated admonishing finger wag as he moved off to take a shower, earning himself a snort from her as she too left the bed.

As he entered the bathroom he grabbed a washcloth from the rack, slid the shower door aside, only to have Tali pluck the wash cloth from his hands and shove him into the shower.

"Something I can help you with Tali?" he grinned at her as she gave him a sultry smile, then began taking off her suit in what was possibly the most erotic way he'd ever seen. Hypnotized, he watched her finish with the suit and get in the shower with him, still holding the washcloth.

"Why don't you let me get that for you?"

* * *

Zaeed stood outside her door, his hand hovering as if about to knock, but for one of the few times in his life, he hesitated. His hand dropped to his side as he remembered the fight they'd had last night, and he cringed as he saw again in his mind the look of what almost amounted to pity she'd given him before shutting the door in his face. He walked a few steps over and leaned against the wall, putting his head in his hands as he thought desperately on what to do.

_Guddam women's gonna be the end of me, I swear it. Why can't she just stay with me? I know I won't live much longer in her eyes, or maybe it's because she thinks she'll get bored?_

His thoughts swirled around in his head in maelstrom-like fashion, but failed to give him any ideas. His thoughts were interrupted by her door opening, revealing his walking heart attack herself, Aria. She stopped in the doorway, looking at him as he leaned against the wall with a curiously blank expression. She looked down at the floor for a moment, almost as if gathering her thoughts before she looked back at him and jerked her head to indicate her room. She moved back to allow him room as he pushed off the wall and went inside, closing the door behind them. Aria kept moving as the door closed though, and made her way to the chairs he'd originally brought for her when she'd first come aboard. She threw one for him to catch and slid the other underneath herself.

Snatching the lightweight chair from the air, he slowly set it down, but stood standing. The two stared at each other for a time, each waiting for the other to speak, until finally Aria gave a heavy sigh.

"I… I wanted to apologize Zaeed." His eyes bulged for a moment as he processed her words, making her laugh.

"Don't look at me like I just grew another head you ass. I am capable of feelings from time to time." He brought his facial features back under control and snapped back.

"Feelings? Ha! Ain't that a joke." Aria raised an eyebrow and smiled at him before she picked up again.

"I was thinking about last night, and since you were standing outside my door for who knows how long, I think I can safely assume you were too." She watched for his nod before proceeding.

"So I was thinking and… I don't know if… Uh! Why is this so hard?" she ran a hand over her face in exasperation, but Zaeed decided to speak up first.

"If you want to go I wont blame you, this planet looks to be boring as all hell and gone, and I won't try and keep you here. But if you ever want to visit, you know where I'll be." He got up to leave, but stopped when he saw her face scrunched up in an expression he'd never seen on her before. _Is she… crying?_

"Aria? You alright my little blue squid?" She choked out a laugh but she definitely had tears running down her cheeks. He moved towards her and sat on one knee next to her chair, taking one hand in his in an attempt to comfort her. She looked down at him, still with that incredibly foreign expression and spoke so quietly he almost missed it.

"If you tell anyone about this, I swear to the goddess I'll murder you." He threw back his head and laughed, and after a moment's confusion, she too laughed at the absurdity of the whole situation. When he finally brought his laughter under control, he had to join her in wiping away tears.

"Jesus, it's been years since I laughed that hard." his smile faded as he saw her watch him, her gaze and slight smile turning his insides hot as a furnace.

"I want to stay, Zaeed." He scanned her face for a second, not really registering what she had said, but once he did, he squeezed her hand and grew a small smile.

"You are just full of surprises. I was so sure you would leave..." he looked down for a minute, reliving the crushing depression that had come over him as he'd resigned himself to a life alone. A blue hand reached down in front of him and cupped his chin, making him look back up into her eyes.

"Make me." Her challenge made him smirk, his depression already forgotten as she locked her lips on his.

* * *

"Shepard? I thought we were going to the shuttle?" Tali looked at him in confusion as they exited the elevator to the crew deck.

"Well it just so happens that there is someone else here who might enjoy a dextro amino meal." He smiled at her as he turned to enter the mess hall, while she stifled a complaint from her subconscious.

_This was supposed to be for us. But then, I suppose Garrus does deserve to eat some real food too. _Her stomach burned as she thought about it, but she managed to maintain composure as they made their way to Garrus' room. Pounding on the door a few times, they only had to wait a few seconds before a familiar grinning Turian stood in the doorway.

"Well well! What a surprise, and what might I do for the lovely couple this morning?" he took his usual pose by leaning on the wall with his feet crossed as he waited.

"Well we thought you might enjoy some food from an actual restaurant for once, as opposed to the prepackaged dextro foods you've been forced into eating for a year."

"A year and a half, actually." Garrus corrected him, somehow managing to keep his smile in check.

"Right, well are you coming or what?"

"Oh I don't know Shepard, anything not prepackaged might taste like crap now, after being "force fed" all those rations." He put his hands up to make the quotation marks in the air with his fingers, and then pushed himself off the wall and motioned for them to lead on. She shook her head and followed Shepard and Garrus to the elevator, shuffling inside and feeling really small compared to the other two. Tali fidgeted with the jewelry she'd received at their bonding party, idly rubbing the ring and necklace that she still thought were absolutely beautiful while the elevator made it usual slow pace to the cargo bay.

"So, how are we taking her this time Shepard? Over your shoulder, or in your arms?" Garrus shied away from her and held up his arms in defense as she slapped him on the shoulder.

"Bosh'tet." Her remark got a chuckle from the Turian before he responded.

"Who? Me or him?"

"Both of you." They were saved from having to give a response by the elevator door pinging open, allowing them entry into the now nearly empty cargo bay.

Stepping out into the large open space once filled with crates upon crates of food and supplies, they made their way to the shuttle. It had a faint layer of dust on it from yesterdays exit from the Conclave meeting, but other than that it was immaculate. As Shepard got closer, she watched him run a hand over the Alliance emblem stenciled into its side. His face turned almost melancholy for a brief moment, but in a flash it was gone and he popped the hatch to leap in.

"Well? You coming or not?" he grabbed a snack from one of the remaining nearby crates and plopped down in the nearest seat. She exchanged glances with Garrus, who shrugged and followed Shepard up. Once she was aboard, she took a seat next to Shepard and insured the safety harness was snug before activating her Onmitool and turning on the autopilot. The engines sparked to life with a low hum as she gave the computer the coordinates for the only restaurant in the town that they would soon be living next to, lifting them off the deck and out of the Normandy's cargo bay, into a slowly brightening morning sunrise. She found herself staring, transfixed at the beauty of it while they flew out over the desert below, still covered in shadows until the sun reached out over the mountains. After a minute or so she finally looked back around the cabin, noticing the other two were watching her with almost identical grins despite their different species.

"What?" Garrus looked down at her arm, apparently she had forgotten to switch off her Omnitool as it still glowed around her arm and lit up the small space. Shutting it off, she looked back out through the view port to watch the sunrise.

"It is beautiful, Tali." She felt his hand on her shoulder and placed her hand on top of his, still watching outside.

"It is. Thank you, Shepard."

"For what?" she smiled under her helmet and closed her eyes.

"For everything." She rested her head on their intertwined hands and just enjoyed the feel of him for the remainder of the trip. When the shuttle finally began to decelerate, she felt him pull his hand back, making her let out a heavy sigh as she sat up straight to undo her safety harness.

"I gotta say, I am really looking forward to having my food cooked with actual ingredients again, instead of military gruel." Garrus undid his harness and rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"Well you'll have to hold on just a little longer Garrus, I had the autopilot put us down just outside the town limits. We have a bit more walking to do before we get there." Tali made no attempts to hide her amusement as the large Turian groaned and grabbed his stomach.

"Are we sure this place is even open yet? This must be pretty early for everybody else." She watched Shepard look around skeptically as they all piled out and looked at the small town.

"Well it is fairly early still, but I'm pretty sure they're open."

"Pretty sure? That's comforting."

"Can it Garrus, can't you see I'm trying to eat?" Shepard shook his still wrapped meal in his friends face with a grin as Garrus cringed at whatever it was.

"You're going to eat before we do? Here I was thinking our Commander had some manners." He shook his head as if deeply disappointed, earning himself a snort from Shepard.

"Well maybe I should, we wouldn't want you to lose your appetite from watching me eat." He waved his wrapped bundle of… whatever it was in front of Garrus again.

"What is that even supposed to be?" Tali's question made both men turn to face her as she pointed at his food.

"This? This is a precooked and, as of now, unpackaged M.R.E.. Looks like… Sloppy Joes." He looked down at his meal and took a deep breath, then exhaled with a smile.

"Heated in the package and ready to eat. So lets hurry up and get there already shall we?" Following his own instructions he trudged on ahead towards the town with her and Garrus making comments on his, "m.r.e." the whole way there. As they entered the town the two men looked at her expectantly.

"So, where to Tali?" Garrus looked around as if he could read the Keelish signs above the brand new shops and locate it himself.

"Well it says on the map it's the next left, then at the end of the street." Following her as she took the indicated path, the other two decided to be quiet for once while she read the signs for the restaurant.

"Ah ha! "The Captains Prize" there it is!" She moved toward the door but Shepard beat her there, opening it for her with a slight bow, but noticing their confused looks, tried to explain.

"It's considered polite to open doors for women."

"Oh. Well then thank you." She stepped through and had to laugh as she heard Shepard jab Garrus behind her.

"You're welcome ma'm. And may I say your face paint looks amazing today."

"Spirits, the man never lets up." He grumbled as they all entered the small building and looked around.

There was a distinct "old fashioned" look about the business, She noticed. It had wood from what might be a ple'a tree for the walls, making it a mixture of dark brown and black streaks with a background of tan. There were many paintings along the walls and the odors coming from the kitchen were intoxicating, but what got her attention most was the view. Towards the center of the wall, facing the now rising sun were large windows, allowing a spectacular view on the sunrise as people ate. Tali tore her attention away from the windows to see the waitress moving toward them from the kitchen area.

"Hi there! Your our first customers of the day!" the woman was definitely young, and by her stance she had no idea who they were. Though she must've found it odd that a Human and a Turian were with her as she gave an almost hesitant glance at them both before continuing.

"Only three of you? Ok, then follow me and I'll seat you." The waitress started to turn but Tali caught her arm.

"Ah. Excuse me, but could we please take one of the seats near the windows?"

"Oh of course! Right this way." Tali took a glance at Shepard over her shoulder, seeing him looking around the establishment instead of watching her or the waitress walk was surprising. Once the waitress seated them and left for the menus, it became apparent Garrus had noticed it too.

"You know Shepard, I must say I'm surprised you weren't watching the waitress, what with your thing for Quarians and all." Garrus smile grew exponentially as Shepard slowly turned to face him.

"Maybe you failed to notice Garrus, but I happen to be bonded already. And besides, she doesn't have the hips that my Tali does." He said it to Garrus, but was looking at her with a smile. She blushed furiously as the waitress came back with their menus, and instantly propped hers up to cover her mask.

"Uh, miss? I don't suppose it's too much of a stretch for you to have Levo amino foods here?" The girl shook her head apologetically.

"No, I'm sorry, we weren't expecting any humans to visit Rannoch… are, are you Commander Shepard?" Garrus threw up his hands in exasperation.

"How? How does this happen _everywhere _we go?" Shepard gave him a quizzical look.

"Are you really surprised? We're heroes now Garrus."

"No, not that. How do they always recognize _you_ and not me? I'm the one with the huge scar on his face!" The girl looked a little taken aback, but decided to risk interfering.

"U- uh, I'll just come back when you're ready to order." She scurried away as if she'd offended them and retreated to the kitchen area.

"Well, you two better hurry up and pick, because I'm tempted to eat this Sloppy-Joe right here and now."

"Please no." Garrus put a hand over his eyes to avoid looking at the red and brown goop on Shepard's plate, while she smiled and looked out the window at the ever-brightening landscape outside. She leaned into Shepard's shoulder; unable to think of a time when she had felt more relaxed.

"Ah… see here Shepard? Dextro cheese burgers." Shepard just groaned.


	39. Sun Bathing

Sun Bathing

By the time they got where they were, the sun had reached its zenith in the sky overhead. It wasn't too hot, and it was far dimmer than earth's sun, so it was a perfect temperature that made Shepard give a sigh in relaxation as he sat with Tali on their plot of land. They had lost Garrus not long after breakfast, with him claiming to be full from his meal of what appeared to Shepard as some kind of bird, mixed with pieces of chopped up vegetation. Soon after dropping Garrus back off at the ship, they had left again, this time to "inspect" their property. They had been there for hours now, watching the ocean as they snuggled with each other, only making the occasional comment. Shepard ran through his newest acquisition in his head again, remembering its layout.

The cliff top they had chosen to place their house was mostly flat, with only one area nearby that sloped upward a little onto another flat piece. They had more than enough room for any kind of house they might want, but he would leave that up to her.

Leaning back into his folding chair, he stretched his arms out above his head and yawned, making Tali squirm a little as she readjusted.

"Hey gorgeous, why don't we see what the others are up to?" he looked down at her as she groaned in protest.

"Why not? Besides, I kind of feel like going for a swim." At this she perked up, turning her head to allow a view of him.

"Swimming? In the ocean?" he frowned as he heard her almost frightened voice.

"Well, no. I was thinking about the creek down in that village where the Conclave was. Why? Is there something wrong with the ocean?" she relaxed into him again at his correction, then continued to explain.

"No nothing is wrong with it, there are some carnivorous things in it, but that's not what I was worried about."

"So what was?" she looked down from him as he asked, not making eye contact while she answered.

"I… I'm a terrible swimmer, I always have been. They tried to teach us in the fleet, in case anyone crashed into an ocean or something, but I was always the worst at it." she spoke in a nervous rush and wringed her hands together until she finished. He reached down and cradled her head, whispering to her until she calmed down.

"Sshh, it's ok beautiful. You can use me as a floaty." He gave her a squeeze and pinched her a little on the bottom, getting a squeal from her as she twisted around.

Grinning broadly, he picked himself up off the ground and reached out to Tali, helping her up after him. After dusting each other off a little bit, he looked up from his inspection of himself to see her watching him.

"See anything you like?" he spread his hands and did a circle for her, getting a giggle as she moved closer.

"Oh yes, definitely. Now what was your idea again? Just go floating in the creek?" Nodding, he led her to the shuttle.

"Yea that's about it. There's only a handful of clouds in the sky, it's as hot as it's going to get, and I see absolutely no reason not to enjoy this weather while it lasts." He sat down and buckled his harness while she did the same next to him and brought up her Omnitool, giving coordinates for the shuttle's next landing.

"Ok we're off, are you sure you want to swim in that?" Tali's question caught him off guard.

"I thought I'd be asking you that question. I don't intend to swim with all my clothes on, just the important pieces. What about you? I assume your water proofed?" Her eyes changed a little behind her mask into what he equated as a raised eyebrow.

"No Shepard. I wear a suit that stops all foreign contaminants, but it doesn't keep out water." Shaking her head in bemusement she looked away and out of the door as it closed again.

"Hey, I was just checking. Although… I suppose since this is your planet and all, we could find somewhere quiet and you could take a swim without that suit." He had a mischievous grin as he said it, but Tali just closed her eyes for a minute. He mentally kicked himself for making her think about her suit again, but was interrupted from making an apology by her eyes opening.

"You have no idea how badly I want to do that Shepard, but if we are going to adapt to our planet again, we need to do it in increments." She looked down at her hands again, but rather than shame, it was indecision that came off of her in waves. Suddenly she looked up and straight in front of her, bringing her hands to the mask seals behind her head. He couldn't hear the soft click and hiss from the escaped air over the engines, but he was practiced enough in it by now to know it was there. Taking the mask off and setting it in her lap, she breathed deeply, then looked at him with those wonderful eyes.

"But one day, I'll take you up on that swim." Her warm smile making him feel like the luckiest man in existence as he leaned in for a kiss. When they finally broke for air he put a hand out and cupped her chin.

"I believe the term you're looking for is, "skinny dipping" and I am _certainly_ looking forward to it." he gave her one more kiss before her soul melting smile slid from sight behind her mask once more. He gave her an encouraging smile to try and relieve some of the depression from needing that mask, but he soon saw it wasn't needed.

"So, I can use you as a float hmm?"

* * *

Garrus lounged around in the cargo bay, idly checking his talons for any cracks as he watched the shuttle tracker every so often for movement. He had been watching it since he'd gotten back from breakfast, which had been amazingly delicious, in the hopes that he could guess what they were planning for the rest of the day and crash the party with the rest of the crew. But so far they'd done nothing at all.

_Spirits, they've been up on that cliff face for hours. I can understand enjoying the scenery, but this is ridiculous. _He looked up from his talon inspection as he caught a glimpse of the shuttle tracker reading movement.

"Finally! Now, what are you up to?" he watched their blip move along the charts until it stopped near the village a mile or so outside the Normandy's landing site. He frowned at the flashing dot for a second, trying to recall a reason why they would need to be there, but quickly replaced it with a grin as he looked at the Mako sitting in the bay next to him.

"Ready for another spin old girl?" he brought up his Omnitool to call the remaining crew while he double-checked the Mako's integrity, running expert hands over the vehicles interface as the first person answered his call.

"What is it Garrus? I'm busy writing reports for Admiral Hackett, so can this wait?" Miranda's no-nonsense tone still irked him, but he resisted the urge to simply disconnect and continued.

"I'm thinking about taking the crew on a little drive, figured you might like to join me."

"Really Garrus, this is very important, why don't-"

"Look, I know you're just as bored on this ship as I am. And no amount of "responsibility" will fix that. Now why don't you take a few hours off, and enjoy yourself with the rest of us peons?" He watched her mouth slowly quirk into a half smile before she nodded.

"Ok Garrus, but I want to know where it is you intend on going, since the shuttle is currently in use." Instead of answering he simply turned the camera for her to see the mako sitting quietly in the back of the bay.

"Oh no, your not getting me on that thing, there's no way in hell I'm-"

"Calm down Miranda, unlike Shepard I actually know how to drive it normally, and I promise there won't be any jumps. Besides, you already agreed. Now if they're doing what I think they're doing, we're all going to need swim suits."

* * *

Shepard unstrapped his safety harness and stood up from the seat, offering Tali his hand to help her up. As they stepped out together, a soothing sight greeted them. They had parked about fifty feet from the edge of the creek, kicking up a slight cloud of desert dust the swirled around in the light breeze. The creek itself was mostly flat and had few large rocks that he could see; and on the plus side, it looked to be about six feet down at it's deepest. It sparkled in the midday sun, and looked as clear as a crystal as it slowly moved along the creekbed.

He noticed, however, that there was a group of Quarians already at the creek who were watching them, wondering who these strangers were that landed a big combat shuttle not a hundred yards form where they were. Exchanging a quick look with Tali, he walked the rest of the way off the shuttle and made his way towards the group.

As he got closer however, he became increasingly sure that these weren't adults that were watching the two of them, but kids and teenagers, all of whom were talking amongst themselves excitedly.

"Is that an Alliance shuttle?"

"I didn't know Humans looked so like us, don't their legs hurt being so straight?"

"Wow, look at the guns on that ship!"

Shepard couldn't help but grin as he heard the commotion they had caused, but he wanted to get in that water badly.

"Hey guys, mind if we take a swim in your creek? It sure looks inviting." They mostly stayed quiet, until one of the smaller ones came up to stand in front of him.

"Are you Commander Shepard?" Shepard had to stifle a laugh as he instantly thought of Garrus getting indignant.

"Yes I am, and who might you be?" the little Quarian, he thought it might be a girl, bounced excitedly as he confirmed his identity.

"I'm Rala, and I'm gonna tell everybody that I met Commander Shepard!" she ran off towards the town as the other children started gathering around excitedly.

"Is it true you killed thousands of Geth?"

"Did you really kill Sovereign all by yourself?"

He was overwhelmed with questions, but Tali came to his rescue.

"Hey! Calm down everybody! Commander Shepard is just here to relax, I'm sure he'll tell you all his war stories some other time." this was met with a chorus of disappointed groans, but gave him a chance to recover.

"So! Who wants to race to the creek?" The kids hesitated for a moment, looking at each other as if unsure he was serious. Then all at once they started yelling and running towards the creek in a mob, while Shepard started shrugging off his orange puffy jacket and running along behind them. He made sure most of them got there ahead of him, then looked for the deepest part of the creek. He carefully angled his approach to avoid any kids before he leaped off the tiny cliff and into a cannon ball, showering the kids with warm water and making them squeal with delight. As his head cleared the surface he shook the water from his face and looked back for Tali, who stood on the small cliff looking down at him.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Your floaty awaits!" he was distracted from her reply by a couple of the boys shoveling water at him from a few feet away, initiating a water-fight they couldn't hope to win.

* * *

Tali smiled to herself as she watched Shepard play with the kids in the water, noting his inability to lose, even if it was only a water fight. She turned back towards the shuttle and walked up to it, grabbing a fold up chair that was crammed into one corner behind the seats. She pried it out and hugged it to her side and under her arm while she looked for a way to the more flat side of the creek without having to wade through it. Finding a spot where it was less cliff and more hill, she decided that was the best route and moved towards it, keeping her balance as best she could on the steep slope; then hopping the smallest nearby width of the creek to get to the sandy area near where Shepard was. Her feet sunk a little with every step through the soft sand, leaving footprints behind her while she did her best to see what was going on at the waters edge.

The kids had all ganged up on Shepard, dog piling onto him as he made for the shore and safety. Smiling at the chaos, she found a choice spot for her chair and folded it open, making sure it was facing away from the sun before plopping down to watch the rest of the festivities. She watched as the kids dragged Shepard away from the shore and back towards the water, with him faking being overwhelmed then going underwater to escape.

Tali looked up for a second as she thought she heard a faint rumbling sound, possibly an engine. She strained to hear over the splashing and shouting from the creek, but eventually gave up when she didn't hear it again. She turned her attention back to the raging battle of the great Commander Shepard versus a group of Quarian children and quickly forgot about the noise she thought she'd heard.

After a few minutes, she saw something move along the small cliff, almost like someone crawling to get a better position… Suddenly Tali found herself standing from her chair and her hand reaching for a shotgun that wasn't there, all the while still trying to make out the shape at the top of the five to six foot tall cliff next to the creek. She saw a strange shape of what could've been a head, but it had some kind of bone or something coming from the back of it almost straight out. But before she shouted a warning, the figure raised it's head and revealed itself as Garrus, who was peeking over the cliff and down at Shepard in an almost conspiratorial fashion.

She started laughing so hard she had to mute her mask speakers as Garrus put a finger to his lips in a shushing motion to her. She watched as he looked behind him and waved someone over, but was shocked when five other heads crawled up alongside him. Miranda, Kasumi, Ken, Gabby and Traynor all had what Tali assumed were swim suits on and watched as Shepard continued to struggle with the kids. Garrus waited until the group finally moved away from the middle of the pool then stood atop the cliff with a shout.

"Those kids need reinforcements! Go go go!" he waved the team forward and all five of the others jumped in with a huge splash, forcing the water battle to halt as they looked around in confusion at the new comers. Tali grinned so widely she thought her face would split in two as she watched the battle continue with everyone ganging up on Shepard. _Ok you bosh'tets, gang up on my bond mate will you? _She strode towards the creek to join in the fun with her closest friends.


	40. Crackle Of A Fire

Crackle Of A Fire

Shepard closed his eyes, feeling the desert breeze as it caressed his face with a soothing touch before passing on. He took a deep relaxed breath, taking in the familiar scent of a campfire as it popped and crackled a few feet from him. He let all his senses extend out and touch the world around him: the heat from Tali as she sat between his legs in their chair, the sound of laughter and story telling as his friends mingled, the smell of food and campfire smoke, all of these things made him smile slightly as he began to drift into an almost comatose state of happiness.

"Commander Shepard? Are you asleep?" He had to smile fully at that, so close to sleeping and dashed before he could really begin. _Story of my life, _He slowly opened his eyes to look at the person who had spoken, noticing the entire group was looking at him.

He was pretty sure it was one of the Quarian parents that had gathered around earlier, probably lured out by fanciful tales about the great Commander Shepard from excitable children. The parents had come in one by one, looking for their kids only to find them playing rough house with some Human and a few other aliens in the creek. All the kids were in bed by now, but the parents were far to thrilled by him to sleep just yet.

"No ma'm, just resting my eyes is all." He glanced toward the sky for a moment, seeing dusk descend on Rannoch. It was a beautiful thing to see, all the shades of red sprayed across the sky as if by a hose, and the far flung mountains looking majestic in their fading shade of pink as the sun made it's slow way below the horizon. It was by far time for him to sleep, but he struggled to regain some consciousness as Tali squirmed around in his lap to look back at him.

"You sure John? I know the day cycle here is longer than on Earth's, and you were playing pretty hard." he heard the concern in her voice, but smiled at her as he remembered her lumbering into the midst of the water fight to help him, using those marvelous legs to kick water at everyone until they had to retreat.

"I'm sure Gorgeous, I'll be fine." She could see through his lie, but let it slide with a shake of her head as she turned back to face everyone else again.

"So you want us to carry you back to the shuttle Shep?" Kasumi teased.

"Garrus can maybe, but I don't intend to carry anything except my fold up chair." Miranda's imperious coolness for once breached by a smile and a soft tone that was apparently her "relaxed" voice.

Both women were still in their bathing suits, as the temperature was sitting in the upper seventies, and he had to admit, they both looked stunning. He was of course doing his best not to look, but he wouldn't be Human if he didn't find these two women attractive. Miranda was wearing a white two-piece swimsuit, showing off her generous cleavage, while Kasumi was in similar attire, but in her usual darker colors. It was the first time he'd gotten a really good look at her without her hood on, and he had found himself staring a few times already.

"How did I get volunteered for heavy lifting duty?" Garrus sat completely back in his heavily reclined chair, a dextro drink sitting on a convenient flat spot near his hand.

"Heavy lifting? Say, don't you need a license for a load that size?" Shepard frowned at the jab from Zaeed, who had come out to join them all a few hours earlier with Aria next to him, looking totally relaxed as she stretched out on her own chair.

"Aye, I believe it'd be a class six loader license you'd be looking fer." Ken chimed in from his left, and earned his usual elbow jab from Gabby and a stare from Tali.

"I get the feeling your trying to call my bond mate fat, engineer Donnelly." The smile froze on Ken's face at her tone.

"Uh, no not at all lass! I was jus'… erm, well-"

"What he means to say, is he's sorry Tali, and it won't happen again." Gabby gave him a scalding stare after she saved him, making the entire group laugh.

Shepard slapped a hand to his stomach as it gave a loud growl, making Tali jump and the group laugh even harder. He looked around a little bashfully and shrugged.

"Guess that MRE I had wasn't enough." Garrus made a gagging motion at the mention of his meal, but a hand touching his shoulder distracted him.

"If you like, we do have some levo amino food stores that we brought down from the fleet. Should I get some?"

"Auntie Raan!" Tali leaped up from the chair and rushed to hug the Admiral.

"Admiral Raan! Good to see you! I thought you would be busy with the Conclave?" Raan squeezed Tali but spoke over her shoulder to him.

"Well we were, but the Conclave has officially decided that we are no longer in a state of marshal law, and that the Admirals are no longer in control of the Quarian government." Tali backed up from the older woman in what looked like shock.

"What? When did that happen? Why didn't you tell me this was happening?" Admiral Raan made soothing motions with her hands, attempting to get the younger woman to calm down as she answered.

"We didn't know it would be brought up Tali, otherwise we would've summoned you. The Conclave has begun voting on a new leader, a first among equals, if you will." Tali stood silent, still trying to take in what this would mean.

"So let me get this straight, The Admirals are still the leaders of the military, but not the civilian populace? Or are you on the Conclave's leash?" He watched the other Quarians look at him with blank stares, their faces unreadable beneath their masks.

"Not quite, Commander. We have the ultimate say in all matters military, but the Conclave is the one who can declare war. Though, we shouldn't need to do that for a very long time I should think, especially with the Geth helping us." Standing up from his chair with a grunt, he turned to shake her hand in a late greeting, and was surprised when she hugged him instead.

"Your mother told me I wasn't to shake your hand, since we're related now." Shepard had to chuckle at that, he could very much so picture his mother telling her just that.

"Well I wouldn't want to anger mom, so I suppose I can manage." They pulled apart from each other with smiles.

"So, I don't know about you guys, but I haven't had much besides those MREs and sandwiches for over a year. You say you have real food?" Kasumi looked almost giddy when Raan nodded, and got out of her chair.

"You did a good job getting all the supplies we needed Miranda, but nothing beats a meal that doesn't require me to rip open a package." Miranda conceded her point with a bob of her head.

"It's hard to get enough gourmet meals to last for over a years worth of travel." Kasumi ignored her as she stared at Raan.

"I suppose it's too much to ask if you have any ramen?" Admiral Raan looked sideways at Shepard, as if silently asking him what she was talking about before replying.

"I don't really know what we have, I just know we had emergency stores for if we ever ran across another species in distress. I'd be glad to show you." The Humans all glanced at each other, then fell in behind the Admiral with the exception of Zaeed who simply grunted with his eyes closed. Shepard called over his shoulder to the others staying behind.

"We'll be right back!" a little two fingered salute from Garrus and they were off into the still fading sundown and towards the nearby town. Raan led them through the labyrinth of the prefabs and into the town proper, with Kasumi talking the whole way.

"A cheese burger, maybe with some bacon and lettuce, and pickles? No, no pickles. Oh what if they have waffles? You guys like breakfast for dinner right? Some eggs and hash browns, maybe an added pinch of salt on the hash browns, and of course some syrup for the waffles. I wonder if-?" Shepard had seen Miranda's face as they listened and knew she was about to explode, so he wasn't surprised when she turned around and shouted.

" UH! Would you stop that? Isn't it bad enough that they likely don't have those things? Why would you remind us like that?" He found himself smiling at Miranda's outburst, as he personally found Kasumi's listing of food amusing and incredibly appetizing, but it appeared no one else shared his liking. Ken and Gabby both had frowns for Kasumi, and Miranda was still fuming as she turned on her heel and waved for Raan to continue leading on. The Admiral gave a slow shake of her head as if realizing she was surrounded by psychos, but kept going anyway.

Eventually she led them to a smaller Geth built building that resembled a hangar bay. The Admiral brought up her Omnitool and tapped a few buttons, making the great doors begin to slide open to admit them into the darkening interior. The inside of the building looked enormous, it's ribbed ceiling and curved walls gave the illusion that there was more room than there was. But he barely noticed all of that, as his eyes were drawn to the large pile that looked as if it had been dumped haphazardly in the nearest convenient spot like so much dirt. Raan once more activated her Omnitool and switched on the lights for the hangar, giving them the full view of the food stockpile.

"Oh." Gabby's and Ken's eyes were so wide it would've been funny if his hadn't been the same way, but then, so were everyone else's.

"Is that…?" Miranda looked as if she was seeing a mirage and was trying to shake the image away.

"Popcorn! And mashed potatoes! And is that ramen?" Kasumi gave a little squeal of excitement as she ran forward to inspect the pile more closely. The group followed her shortly after, but Shepard overcame his urge to check for himself and turned to face Admiral Raan.

"So what about the expiration dates? Or refrigerated foods?"

"We only took things that took a very long time to spoil, but we did have some refrigerated foods." She pointed to a small stout box in the corner, which he assumed was the fridge. He took her silent cue and took off for the fridge with high hopes. He flung open the door and found a very odd sight. Inside and on the main tray was a blue and white creature that he couldn't accurately compare to any animal he'd ever seen. It had four limbs, and a scaly skin, with six eyes and a spinal ridge that flared up like some kind of prehistoric Earth dinosaur, but beyond that it was completely alien.

_I think it's safe to assume that's the Asari's meal._

He moved the creature aside and searched for something appealing. After a few minutes of searching he gave a shout of triumph, and held his prize above him in excitement.

"Ah ha! Hotdogs!"

* * *

Tali sat on the chair Shepard had abandoned with a sigh, getting a smirk from Garrus.

"What?"

"He's only been gone for a few minutes, and your already sighing after him." Garrus made a fake impression of her sigh, adding in a hand to his forehead for dramatic effect. She picked up one of the small rocks lying around and chucked it at him, making him throw up an arm in defense.

"Come on you two, Kiss and make up." Aria had one eye on them as she lay in her chair and watched.

"Na, I don't think Shepard would appreciate that. Besides, Tali doesn't have enough armor on for my tastes, no offense Tali." She snorted as he leaned back with his arms behind his head, but let his comment slide as she heard voices from the direction of the town. She turned in her chair, spotting the group as they approached with what looked like armfuls of boxes and bags. The light from the sun was almost gone now, and it was very close to full on night, but her eyes saw through the dark clearly. The others heard them soon as well, and Aria had to punch Zaeed in the arm to wake him up.

"What the hell was that for you bitch?" Aria just pointed at the group, making him grumble and mutter under his breath as he dragged himself from his chair.

"Whaddya' got there Shepard? Wait a bloody minute, are those hotdogs?" Shepard just grinned as he tossed the bag to the scarred man, who snatched it from the air and eyeballed the package.

"I'll be damned, it's even still good!" Tali watched the exchange in confusion as the others started setting bags and boxes down.

"What's a hotdog?" both men looked at each other after she asked, but Shepard was the one who answered.

"Well, Hotdogs can be made from a lot of things, but this one is beef. And what you do with hotdogs is this." He had Zaeed toss it back and popped open the bag to grab one "hotdog", then picked up another bag from nearby that had some kind of white and tan colored flaky thing inside it. She watched as Shepard split the flaky thing and placed it on a white paper plate. He then scooped a stick off the ground nearby, and began to whittle it into a point, which he impaled the hotdog on.

"Now all we do, is cook it." he walked towards her and sat between her legs, his back against her stomach while he twirled the stick over the campfire. She watched the juices start falling off the hotdog and sizzle as they hit the fire, making her hungry herself. The odor it gave off was foreign, but also delicious.

"How will you know when it's done?" Shepard looked back at her, a confused frown on his face.

"Have you never cooked before?"

"Not really, the things we eat are usually in tubes, so the only things we really "cooked" were already cooked, we were just warming them up." One of the Quarian women spoke up after she finished.

"Only a handful of people really cooked anything on the flotilla, as real cooking involved ingredients, and ingredients took space. Space we didn't have." Tali found herself nodding solemnly as she remembered the cramped spaces and crowded hallways of the Neema, where she'd grown up.

"Hey, come on, this is supposed to be a happy thing! Hotdogs on Earth are pretty much a tradition." Shepard smiled at them as he tried to lighten the mood.

"Your tradition is burning John." He frowned at her in confusion, then turned to see his hotdog covered in flames. He cursed and jumped off her lap, batting at it with his hands and blowing on it until the flames subsided. He held it up to inspect it, showing a blackened but still mostly intact hotdog. She watched him with a smile as he scraped off the burnt parts, then set it in the thing she'd overheard to be called a "bun".

"I must've held it too close to the fire." He said lamely as he looked down at his charred meal.

"I'm sure it'll be fine John." He just smiled at her and kissed her mask, before settling into his previous spot and inhaling his food.

As she watched him and the others eat, she had an idea. Her mind churned through it, going over possibilities in her head along with estimates and costs. _If we could get the Geth to do it for us, everything about it would be better. I'm sure Shepard would do his best, he always does. But he's no architect._

"Tali? hello?" she saw his hand wave in front of her face as she snapped out of her thoughts.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"You just looked a little lost there for a minute beautiful." His concern was well hidden, but she could see it there on his face.

"I'm fine, I was just thinking about our house." He stopped his hotdog halfway to his mouth, letting his concern really show.

"What about it?"

"Why don't we ask the Geth for help?"

* * *

_This chapter and the one before it was written and only slightly inspired by the song, "Drops of jupiter" by Train_


	41. Aristotle's Promise

Aristotle's Promise

Shepard ran a hand down his face as he stood in front of the QEC, and yawned in spite of himself while he waited for the other side to pick up the conection. He had slept for over ten hours, but had been up for over twenty-four hours the day before. Tali had told him when he woke up, that she and Garrus had indeed had to cart his unconscious body to the shuttle and back to the Normandy. The only thing he really remembered though, was Tali's question about the Geth helping with their home; well, that and Kasumi eating her ramen for some reason.

He shook the image out of his head as the blue figure of Aristotle blinked into existence in front of him.

"Shepard Commander, how can we assist you?" Shepard winced a little as he listened to the greeting, as he always heard Legions voice when a Geth spoke, regardless of tone or pitch.

"Hey Al, would you mind if I asked you a few Questions?"

"State your inquiry." The Geth seemed rather straight forward compared to last time, but Shepard decided to ignore it.

"I had questions regarding how the Geth decide where to help in rebuilding." Aristotle seemed to hesitate for a moment, likely speaking with the rest of the Geth.

"We build for the Creators whenever they ask, though we have turned down several settlements for being overly rude in their asking. Can I assume from this line of query that you would request us to construct something for you?" Shepard blinked in surprise for a second, but then exhaled a laugh. _Of course he can do that, he's an AI, he can do almost anything._

"You are, of course, correct Aristotle. But I wasn't sure if I should ask or not, seeing as how your already busy building for everyone else. It seems kind of selfish to request a house when you're rebuilding an entire planet's infrastructure." Shepard found himself rubbing the back of his neck and pulled his hand down.

"We are indeed helping the creators in reconstruction efforts, and we would be glad to assist you Shepard Commander. Relatively few requests have been made, it seems the creators do not fully trust us yet, and that they would rather do it themselves. We have come to understand this phenomenon of, "pride" and we would not take it from them... again." The machine's head flaps flared up at the end, possibly to punctuate it's point. He seemed to use his head flaps like a Human would use his hands while talking.

"Thank you Aristotle, you'll be doing me a huge favor. But, you aren't being allowed to help?" Al shook his head at the question.

"No, we are being allowed to help, but our help isn't wanted outside of government buildings. Almost all requests have been from the Quarian government, with virtually no exceptions, on the order of 93.5 percent." All Shepard could do was shake his head in disbelief.

_I don't get the logic here, even if the Turians had beaten us into a pulp in the first contact war, we would still have taken their help in rebuilding. At least I would._

"So your saying the people still don't like the Geth. I suppose I can see that, but I know Humans would've reacted differently to this situation." Aristotle's head tilted to the side, reminding Shepard of a dog that saw someone drop some food.

"And how might Humans have reacted, if given the same circumstances?"

"I think we would've gladly taken your help, or any help really. But then, I can't see us freaking out that bad over an AI asking if it had a soul either. In fact, knowing my government, they would've found a way to integrate it into the military." Al's head flaps arranged themselves into what resembled a raised eyebrow.

"We question the logic behind this, as it seems any technology with such capacity is always under heavy safe guards in your Species. Take EDI for example, she is a fully capable AI, but was heavily restrained upon her construction. Severely reducing her abilities in every conceivable way." Shepard looked behind him at EDI's panel.

"Have you been talking to the Geth EDI? You could've at least told me." He watched her blue ball hologram pop up from her console before she answered.

"I did not realize it was something I needed permission for, Shepard." He sighed at her, but turned back to face Aristotle, who had his flaps arranged in what Shepard took for fascination.

"I did not anticipate you would find this unacceptable, Shepard Commander. I apologize." He hung his head dejectedly, as if he were a child who just got told not to search for the cookie jar.

"No Al, it's fine if you talk to her or anyone else on the ship, I just would've liked to know about it is all." The Geth looked up hopefully at this.

"Shepard Commander, we- I, have a query." Shepard felt his brows climb of their own accord.

"Ok, shoot." He watched the Geth stare at him for a moment, apparently not understanding the phrase, but he shrugged and continued with his question.

"As I have explained before, this unit has a particular interest in Humans and their culture. I would like to request permission to come aboard the Normandy, to observe and interact with Humans." Shepard felt his smile grow as he thought about it, remembering how confused Legion had been at the crews' interactions with each other.

"You and all Geth are welcome aboard the Normandy Aristotle, it would be a pleasure to have you." Aristotle cocked his head again, and made his flaps flare.

"It is not possible to have all Geth aboard the Normandy at once Shepard Commander, as your ship's frame is far too small. But we appreciate the sentiment."

"I'll take that as a compliment." EDI's voice quipped from behind him, making him smile even wider as he shook his head.

_Somehow, I don't think hearing humor from machines will ever cease to amaze me._

"So can I expect you to come aboard soon?"

"When would be an acceptable time frame?" Shepard pondered the question for a minute, but eventually decided on a course of action.

"Some of the crew have been itching to see Earth again, and we do need some more levo food supplies. Why don't you tag along with them tomorrow morning when they hit the relay back to Earth?" Al looked stunned for a moment, his flaps fluctuating like a fish's gills out of water.

"I would be allowed on the surface of Earth?" his deep synthesized voice sounded almost amazed at the idea.

"You sure would, though it won't look like the pictures. The Reapers tore us a new one when they were there, there wasn't much left." Despite his warning, Aristotle sounded eager.

"I understand, Shepard Commander. I will wait for your hail at the coordinates I have uploaded when you are ready."

"Well actually Al, I wont be aboard for that trip. My XO Miranda will be taking command. I intend to stay here with Tali, maybe even start our house. Speaking of which, can I get a few of your friends to come down to the surface with us soon? I want to show them our ideas for the house." Aristotle nodded.

"Of course Shepard Commander. We will send a detachment to your location as soon as possible. The rest of the Geth send their regards, farewell." The connection was cut rather abruptly, but he just laughed at the empty space.

_We'll definitely have to work on his conversation skills. _He turned and left the small QEC area and marched through the war room, feeling much more awake than he had the first time he'd come through. He continued smiling, even when passing the scanner, as he thought to himself.

_It'll be good to have a Geth aboard again, for some reason I can't quite put my finger on, I really liked that walking light bulb we had before. _Fond memories of Legion flashed through his mind as he walked, making the crew look at him askance as he smiled for no apparent reason.

He remembered how Legion had hesitated when asked about the N7 patch, and when he had convinced him and Tali to stop fighting in the AI core. But the memory that would always stand out for him was the one when Legion had been in the mess hall, quietly observing everyone as they ate until a crewman asked him an interesting question.

_"Hey Legion, can you do the robot?" Legion hesitated, his light flicking from person to person as the whole crew watched and waited for his response. Suddenly he extended his arms to either side, making a wave effect go from one hand to the other over his shoulders before he got into the heavy stuff. The crew soon abandoned their meals as they too tried to copy or outdo his movements. Pretty soon, the entirety of the mess hall's occupants were doing some form or another of the robot, with Legion in the middle of it all._

Chuckling to himself at the memory, he pressed the elevators button for the captains' cabin.

* * *

Tali looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, moving one way then another, trying to imagine herself in one of those bathing suits she'd seen on Miranda and Kasumi. She'd seen Shepard trying not to stare, and she didn't blame him. they were beautiful women, and she knew she had his heart no matter what, but she longed to be able to wear something so freeing. Not to mention make him drool at the sight of her, which she could do fairly easily even now.

_Just imagine how bad he'll be when I can wear all those pretty things Human women wear, he wont be able to control himself._ She blushed at the image of Shepard bull rushing her in lust, and at how amazing the outcome would likely be.

"Tali? You in here?" She jumped at his voice from the other room, but quickly jumped back into her suit, grabbing at zippers and buttons. She had it almost completely on when a knock came at the bathroom door.

"Tali? You in there gorgeous?" she had grown quite fond of his nicknames for her, but she found it still embarrassed her to no end when he used them in public.

"Yes John, I'll be right out."

"Sure it's not something I could help with?" his tone made her smile; apparently their morning session together hadn't been enough.

"Yes, you can come in if you really need to." The bathroom door slid open to admit a grinning Shepard, whose eyes traveled slowly up her body to finally rest on her face.

_Oh yeah, he's definitely mine._

"Good news Tali, Aristotle agreed to help us with our house." She had one shoulder in her suit as he talked, but froze halfway with the other shoulder.

"Really? You convinced him?" at his nod she squealed in excitement and bounced on her toes before she leaped at him for a hug. He laughed as she latched onto him, his muscled chest heaving until he spoke.

"It wasn't hard, apparently the Geth have almost no other requests for assistance to be busy with, and so I asked for him to send someone down so we can outline our plans for the house."

"Wait, today?" She looked up at him for his answer and was once again so happy she bounced on her toes at his nod.

"Everyone besides Zaeed and maybe Aria will be leaving for Earth with the Normandy tomorrow, so we'll need to find somewhere to stay in the meantime." He ran a hand through her hair with a loving smile.

"Have I ever told you how cute you are when you do that?" she rubbed on him teasingly.

"Do what?" she giggled as his eyes rolled back a little bit, but she soon found their positions reversed as he pinned her up against the shower door.

"Why don't we discuss housing arrangements some other time, hmm?"

She smiled up at him through her lashes, which Kasumi had been teaching her how to play with in their spare time, and put her face so close to his they almost touched, but not quite.

"Sounds fine to me."


	42. Well Wishing

Well Wishing

"No, see, the living room window needs to be facing the coast and the sunset." Shepard stood next to two Geth, whose names were virtually unpronounceable to him, while he tried to get his mental picture of the house across to them. This task was proving much more difficult than he had anticipated.

"The main living space window will be along a wall here-" he made a line with his hands like he was signaling an aircraft to land. "…And it should be the center piece of the room, allowing a view of the patio on the cliff as well." The two Geth looked at each other in what he took for frustration, or perhaps a machine equivalent to eye rolling.

"Shepard Commander, the configuration of this room as you describe is not only inefficient, but unnecessary. We again suggest-"

"Yes I know what you suggest, but I'm not doing this for practicality reasons. Rather, I'm doing this for aesthetics, beauty, and most importantly, so my wife doesn't shoot me. Why don't I just have EDI send you what we've come up with so far?" he pulled up his Omnitool to look for the file, missing one of the Geth drop his head to his chest and shake it sadly.

"That would be acceptable, thank you Shepard Commander."

He found the file and sent it to them, watching them instantly read over it and look around the area with a renewed purpose.

"We believe this can be done, Shepard Commander. We will make the necessary adjustments and foundations as soon as we are able." The one who had spoke turned to walk back toward the shuttle, but his friend stayed for a moment.

"Shepard Commander?" The Geth looked at him, it's eye moving constantly as it waited.

"Yes?"

"Due to recent observation, I would like to point out that you are highly inefficient at relaying your thoughts and ideas."

Shepard found himself shocked for a moment. His frown slowly turned into a smile, then into a laugh. A laugh that then turned into full-blown belly laughter as the Geth turned to follow his friend to the shuttle.

_I guess it's true; every civilization **does** have its assholes. Well, no one said the Geth weren't truthful, just blunt._

He wiped his eyes with one hand when he finally recovered, breathing heavily and still chuckling as he too made his way to the shuttle and settled in next to his two new friends. Zaeed and Aria sat across from them looking bored, as they too had come along to show the Geth their plans and had been the first to do so. Their house was to be about one hundred yards from his, on the taller part of the cliff.

"I'm rather surprised you decided to stay with us Aria, I never figured you for the settling down type." He had to shout to be heard over the rising engines until the doors finally came down to shut out the noise and swirling dust. Aria looked at him with a raised brow.

"Shows what you know. Now why don't you go mind your own business hmm?" her crass tone brought a crooked smile to Zaeed's face, but he put a hand on her arm to calm her down.

"Guess the old minx just needed the right incentive. She's right though, mind your own guddam business." The two looked smiles at each other, causing Shepard to once more chuckle at the amazing ability of his to attract the oddest people in the galaxy to him. He turned instead to the window as the shuttle made it's way back to the Normandy, watching the mid morning sun continue it's slow trek across the sky while his mind wandered.

_The crew should be leaving with the ship soon, and I think I know just what we'll do while their gone. I wonder if Tali has ever camped out before? _His musings continued until they neared the ship, and the two Geth guided the craft into the bay with precision only a machine could achieve. After they set down, Shepard stepped out and made for the elevator, with the intent of saying his farewells to the crew. And maybe covertly picking up a few camping supplies from his stash.

* * *

Tali felt at her mask, which was lying on the couch beside her, checking to make sure it was still there while Kasumi played with her hair and chatted with her from behind. They were in Kasumi's room, and she'd been terrified of taking her mask off here, but as always, Kasumi had given her some good reassurances. Her friend had rightfully pointed out that she'd been walking around without her mask on in Shepard's quarters more and more, and even if they were cleaned on the way into his quarters, there were always germs inside the cabin. And she had to admit; she was supposed to be exposing herself more anyway. Besides that, she hadn't noticed anything besides a drippy nose, which Kasumi had handed her a box of tissues for, and a slight temperature. Which she had endured before and likely would again. But exposure should only be brief, and she'd been mask less for almost ten minutes.

_But this feels so nice._ She looked down at her mask lying next to her hand, and closed her eyes; trying to take in all the sensations she could before being forced to put it back on.

"You ok girl? You're being awful quiet up there." she felt Kasumi's hands on her hair, pulling here and brushing there. The soothing motions made Tali think of her mother, who had done the same with her as a child before she had received her first suit.

"I'm fine Kasumi, just relaxing." The hands on her hair stopped.

"Don't give me that, what's wrong?" Tali felt the other woman move around behind her, and suddenly Kasumi's face was right next to hers, her chin sitting on her shoulder and her eyes searching for a confession.

"Wrong? No, nothing's wrong Kasumi. You're just reminding me of my mother is all."

Kasumi snorted in amusement.

"Oh really? In what way?"

"Nothing mean, I just meant my mother used to brush my hair like this when I was a girl." Kasumi's smile melted from her face at this admission.

"Ah. So, should I stop then?" Tali turned enough to grab her friend's hand and look her in the eyes.

"I enjoyed it Kasumi, truly. But I should probably put this damn mask back on before I get really sick and Shepard lectures me. I guess he sometimes reminds me of my parents too." They giggled at the comment, but her laughter quickly subsided as she stuffed her hair back into the suction tubes in her suit and once more donned the mask, locking it into place with a hiss of air.

"I'm gonna miss you girl. And just so you know; I'm glad we did this, even if grumpy old Shep doesn't agree. That's a face that deserves as much air time as possible." The small thief tapped her visor with a smile, not realizing the blush she had caused in her friend.

"Thanks, and I thought you were beautiful in that outfit you wore the other day at the creek." Kasumi crossed her legs and leaned back into the couch, keeping her smile the whole time.

"I was going to say something about that. I'm sure you saw Shep watching Miri and me, but I just wanted to let you know, in case you hadn't seen it for yourself yet, that men always look at women; regardless of whether they're with someone or not. And to be honest, he looked a lot less than most other men would have. It doesn't mean he's not interested in you, he just can't help himself." Tali giggled at her friend's explanation.

"I know Kasumi, I just wished I could've worn something like that too." Kasumi put a hand on her shoulder and gave a consoling smile.

"I know cutie, and someday you will. But until then, Shepard loves you no matter what you're wearing. A lot of women never get to have what you do, enjoy it." Tali leaned over and gave her a fierce hug, before standing from the couch.

"I'll miss you too Kasumi, and I hope you all have fun on your trip." Kasumi stood from the couch as well, and placed one hand on her hip with that mysterious smile she often used.

"Oh don't worry about me, I have Garrus to mess with. You just make sure that Aria doesn't corrupt you while I'm gone." Tali laughed and gave her one last hug before she finally left the room. She felt a million times better for having talked to her best friend, but was sad to know she would be leaving, even if only briefly. She crossed the hallway to stand by the elevator while she waited for it to arrive at her floor; idly wishing she had more of Kasumi's tissues for her poor nose.

* * *

Shepard crouched against the side of the elevator, making sure he couldn't be seen from the left side.

"Is she still on the left EDI?" he asked, his knee bouncing in anticipation.

"Yes Shepard, Tali is still against the left side bulkhead. If your intention is to scare her, could you please leave me out of it?" He looked up at the speaker in the corner with one eye, then shook his head and smiled.

"You should've learned from Joker by now, us Humans love our pranks. But yes, I'll keep you out of it." He settled into his position against the wall and waited, letting his mind wander. He had already gone over his good byes to most of the other crewmen, and he had given Miranda orders to speak directly to Hackett about their findings as they'd traveled the galaxy. Sure, he'd already talked to Hackett over the QEC, but the actual reports still needed to be handed over. And once all was said and done, He had finally come to a decision over the Normandy's future. He would see that bit personally.

Readying himself as the elevator slowly came to a stop on the crew deck, he waited for the doors to ping open and paused for a moment, just long enough to hear her take a few steps towards the entrance, before leaping out to grab her by the shoulders with a yell. Tali screamed but reacted instantly, throwing all her might into a duck and pull that flung him over her hip and flat onto his back. He lay dazed and staring at the ceiling for a few seconds before Tali's face popped into his field of view.

"Oh Keelah! John are you ok?" She looked down at him with a concern that was obvious even through the mask, her hand running over him as if to check every inch of him herself. He stared up at her with a blank expression at first, and for the second time that day, started laughing so hard he had trouble breathing. Soon enough, Tali collapsed on top of him in her own fit of laughter.

So there they were, in a heap in front of the elevator, laughing so hard they couldn't breathe, while Garrus stood with arms crossed and shooting a glance over at Kasumi, who had heard the commotion and came out to see… this.

"You know, I love shenanigans as much as the next guy, but this is a little much." Shepard attempted to blink through the tears and sit up, but found it difficult when laughter kept bubbling up.

"Garrus… you wouldn't believe… what just happened…" He spoke between bouts of laughter and heavy breathing while Tali slowly regained her composure and sat up.

"This bosh tet' tried to scare me as I got on the elevator." She poked him with an accusing finger, but her tone said she was still laughing inside.

"Tried is the word alright." He finally had his laughter slightly more under control and sat up next to her, rubbing the small of his back where he'd landed.

"She tossed me on my ass before I could get more than two steps off the elevator." He slid an arm around her and smiled at her with pride.

"Oh you succeeded alright, if you hadn't, I wouldn't have thrown you like that. Are you sure you're ok?"

"He's fine Tali, but he deserves a bruise or two for pulling something like that." Kasumi looked down at him in disapproval, but Garrus had an amused smirk as he watched them on the floor.

"I'm pretty sure our illustrious leader is losing his touch if an engineer can stomp on him that bad." Tali turned to retort, but he pulled her attention back to him and put his forehead on her helmet, staring into her eyes as he answered for her.

"I've never been so happy to lose." Shepard heard Garrus make a disgusted sound and a sigh from Kasumi, but ignored it all.

"There they go again! is there any alcohol left in the lounge?"

"Ah your just jealous blue, but I suppose I can dig up something."

"_Blue_? Why does everyone on this ship use nicknames? Spirits I swear every time-" the voices faded as the door to the lounge closed behind the two, leaving him and Tali alone again on the floor of the hallway. His eyes still locked on hers, he took her hands in his.

"So, how do you feel about camping?"


	43. New Neighbors

New Neighbors

Shepard watched from the window of the shuttle as the Normandy turned about and flew up into the atmosphere, leaving him, Tali, Aria and Zaeed with the shuttle on the planet below. He continued to watch until his ship disappeared into the sky, leaving behind nothing but a pair of landing strut marks on the dusty desert floor. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back into the seat of the shuttle, listening to the talk between the passengers.

"I honestly don't understand what the deal is, all your friends are coming back." Aria had her usual condescending tone, but Tali just looked back at her.

"I know they'll be back, but it's just so strange to be without all of them." He blinked at the replica of his own thoughts, but didn't interrupt.

"It's unnerving to know you have no backup, especially when it's always been there before." Zaeed was looking at the wall as he spoke, as if in a trance, but the rest of the shuttles occupants nodded in agreement. They sat in silence for a while as the shuttle took them to their destination, each lost in their own thoughts. But as usual, Shepard found himself watching Tali. She hadn't really liked the camping idea at first, but he'd managed to sway her to his way of thinking. He smiled to himself as he remembered the conversation.

_"Aw come on! Tali, I know you'd like camping. We could sit under the stars, watch the ocean, and share the same cramped tent…" She cocked her head at him at that last._

_"Well if we did camp, I couldn't do anything like that, and you know it." He took both her hands and pulled them around his waist, bringing her closer._

_"I don't need that Tali, I just need you close to me, suit or no suit."_

He shook his head a little to clear the memory, causing Tali to notice him still staring. They didn't speak though; they just smiled at each other until the sounds from the engine changed pitch to alert everyone they were landing. He reluctantly broke eye contact with a sigh and threw off his safety harness. Grabbing all their gear that he could, he had to squint slightly at the dimmed light of the noonday sun as he took the first steps off the shuttle, and slung the biggest bag over his shoulder. Shepard found himself looking around with a relaxed smile as he surveyed his new domain and gave an approving nod. The others hopped out behind him to the sound of the shuttle's engines slowly going offline, and they fanned out next to him to see what he was seeing. He was briefly reminded of the stereotypical surfer commercials from old Earth, where the group lined up and looked at the ocean with surfboards under their arms from the beach. His group now did the same, but without surfboards. Zaeed grunted his approval with a far away look in his eye.

"Did a stint on a beach like this once. Assaulted a group of outlaws that had dug in on the surf to make their last stand. Wasn't much left when we were through."

The group stood on the beach not too far from the cliff that their houses were being constructed on, and watched the waves come and go in frothing white foam that slid along the sand towards them while the sun glinted off the water.

"We can talk war stories over the campfire later Zaeed, let's just set up camp for now." Shepard suited his own words and started off towards a likely spot for the tent, before the others followed suit. Aria started off in another direction, making Zaeed have to jog to catch up with her brisk pace while she searched for a suitable place to sleep. But Tali just watched him as he unslung his tent from his shoulder and shook it out to lay it down flat on the sand.

He had discovered that sand made a surprisingly good place for tents when he was a kid on vacation with his parents. they had taken him to Earth when he was 12 years old, to the island of Hawaii, where he had set up his first tent with his father on the beach in front of their lodgings. Smiling to himself as he thought about his childhood trip, he set about erecting the tent, placing the poles in the correct positions and shoving stakes deep into the sand. He was almost finished when he heard a bellowing roar from the waters edge. He looked up to see Zaeed fly through the air end over end, and was surrounded by a biotic bubble that flung him into the ocean with a huge splash. Tracing his trajectory, Shepard found the cause; Aria was standing next to a haphazard looking tent that looked very poorly constructed, and a small grin on her face while she watched Zaeed shout and curse as he swam back towards the shore.

"I can tell things will never be dull around here." His comment got a snort from Tali who got up to help him load up the tent with all their personal items.

It was a spacious tent he noted, as he flung his sleeping bag and inflatable mattress inside; it was about six feet tall at its largest and wide enough to accommodate four people lying side by side. He leaned down to press the inflate button on the side of the mattress to watch it quickly blow up like one of the militaries life rafts on a navy ship back on Earth. Testing it with one hand to see if it was firm enough, he turned to face the door and sat down on it, only to be tackled by a pouncing Tali. She quickly straddled him as he lay on his back in a daze, and she captured his arms above his head with her own.

"Looks like the mattress works." He smiled up at her as she leaned in closer, her mask nearly touching his nose.

"I was thinking of a different test, my captain." Still grinning, he brought his head up the rest of the distance to touch her helmet with his forehead.

"Interestingly enough, so was I love." Tali slid her hands down his arms and onto his chest, allowing him to reach up and touch the release clamps on her helmet. She nodded, and he began to undo the clasps when they again heard a roar from outside, this time it was Aria's voice. Shepard sighed out a laugh and took his hands down from her mask, getting a look of disappointment from her at the situation. As they got up and left the tent to see what was going on, they were greeted by the sight of a soaking wet Zaeed sitting on a rock, with Aria bent over his knee and howling in indignation as he spanked her.

Shepard glanced at Tali, who looked back with wide eyes and what he could imagine was her "shocked" face beneath her mask, before they both turned to watch again.

"Zaeed! You bastard! I swear to the goddess I'll hurl you so far out you'll- AH!" she squealed as he brought his hand down hard for the last strike, and made sure her hands were secured so she couldn't use her biotics on him again.

"You gonna behave now? Or do I have to beat your ass again?" Aria made a sound of pure rage, and soon they were going at it full swing. She got free of his hands and flipped around him, pulling one arm with her and shoving it back up under his shoulder, he reversed it, pushing her off and leaping at her in a tackle. The two rolled down the slight hill where they had set up the pathetic excuse for a tent and wrestled the entire way down.

Shepard started moving toward them but Tali held him back by the arm.

"Maybe It's best they work this out now, you know, so we don't have to hear it all night?" He laughed at her comment but nodded his head. He decided to help them in a different way, and changed course from the mini version of a tavern brawl and made for their tent.

_After a session like this, they're going to need their tent up and functioning. If I know Zaeed, this fight will end up getting dirty, and not in the cheating kind of way._

Chuckling to himself, Shepard walked up the hill and arrived at the tent, which was a really pitiful sight. It was leaning far to the right, and many of the poles were sticking out from their proper places, making the entire thing look like a hobo's shanty rather than a camping tent. He set about undoing the mess and restructuring the tent to resemble something more livable, when he realized he couldn't hear the cursing and shouting from the fight anymore. Standing up from the tent he looked around and saw that instead of fighting, they were cradling each other and kissing. Bewildered, he looked out to Tali, who just gave him an amused shrug. He sighed and got back to work fixing the tent, until he finished knocking in the last stake and stood up to head back towards his own tent. As he walked down the hill, he passed the two lovers as they held on to each other and stopped.

"If it's always going to be like this with you two, you might want your house to be closer to the hospital." They looked up at him with twin looks of amusement, but Zaeed spoke first.

"I wouldn't have it any other way Shepard. What can I say, the lady likes it rough." Aria snorted at him.

"It's lady now? Don't go getting soft on me you ugly scarred up old-" Zaeed cut her off with another kiss and Shepard decided to take that as a "get lost" and went on towards Tali. She was sitting in one of the fold up chairs looking out at the ocean, which was only about one hundred feet away. He took his own chair from the wall of the shuttle and set it up within arms reach of her, sitting down with a low groan that turned into a sigh as he collapsed into it.

"Careful, with sounds like that people might mistake you for being old." Tali lazily looked over at him after she spoke.

"I think my looks are enough to do that." She giggled a little at his self-depreciation, but laid a hand on him.

"Your not **that** much older than me." He smiled at her attempt to make him feel better, but looked out over the ocean as he answered.

"I suppose that's true." They sat in silence for a while, each soaking up the beauty of the mid day sun as it glinted of the waves, until he heard the distinct hiss of the release clasps to his side. His head whipped around to see Tali grinning with her eyes closed and her mask in her hand dangling towards the ground. A few wisps of her hair escaped from her hood and lifted on the ocean breeze, while the sun lit up her face to show smooth pale skin. He sat awestruck at her beauty right then, unable to formulate any words to describe his feelings for her, until three words came to him and outshone all else.

"I love you." Tali opened her eyes slowly, looking up at the perfectly blue sky, and then turned her head to give him quite possibly the most content smile he'd ever witnessed on anyone's face.

"I love you too John." They stared at each other for a long time, their eyes roaming over each other, until a interesting noise rousted them from their bliss. He frowned for a second, seeing his expression duplicated in Tali's eyes, then flipped over on his chair to see what could have caused it.

once more the disturbance was caused by his new neighbors, who were apparently in their tent and oblivious to him having fixed it for them as they set about ruining it once more. He had been hearing a tearing sound, but it was far too loud to be clothing. He discovered why quickly, as the side of the tent exploded outward with a loud shredding noise with Zaeed falling on top of Aria, who looked like she was halfway through the process of getting undressed. The two looked around for a second in bewilderment at the sudden sunlight, apparently unaware of how rough they were being, until Zaeed looked out towards him and Tali, who just waved back at him with grins. They were far enough away that they couldn't hear him, but his mouth was moving in what was sure to be curses and grumbles as he got off of Aria and pulled the tent up out of the ground, stakes and all. He walked around so the hole was facing away from Tali and him, then slammed it back down and walked back in with Aria right behind him. As the two ducked back into their tent, Shepard couldn't suppress a laugh.

_With neighbors like these, we'll **never** be bored._

"So Tali," He rolled back over in his chair as he spoke. "I don't suppose you brought any Quarian alcohol?" She looked at him with one eyebrow raised and a slight smile.

"Maybe, depends. What did you have in mind?"

"A toast."

"Mmm, what are we toasting?" Her eyes followed him as he got out of his chair and kneeled at the entrance of their tent, to pull out his own special bottle. He searched into her bag and found a tall tube of purplish liquid and grabbed it, along with a few wine glasses he'd had the forethought to bring along. He walked back over to his chair and handed her the canister, then took his seat and undid the cork on his own bottle of chardinnay. She unscrewed the cap on hers at the same time, and poured herself some as he did the same.

"To us, and our charming neighbors. May they always keep us on our toes." Tali gave a guffaw at his extension of the toast, but clinked her glass against his.

"To us and our neighbors. Keelah Se'lai!"


	44. Close But No Cigar

Close But No Cigar

Shepard stood a few yards away from the construction area of the new houses in awe, watching Geth in the hundreds swarm like worker ants as they built. They had done most of the house already in a span of three days, and watching them now, he could see how. There were Geth doing all kinds of tasks in the late morning sun, everything from carrying cables to fitting in windows, and even one carrying an entire pallet of shingles by himself. The majority of units though, were digging a trench that led down towards the cliff off to there left. For what however, he had no idea.

"Excuse me!" He yelled at the nearest Geth platform that was lugging an armful of two by fours towards the house, making it turn and look at the Human disturbing it's task.

"Shepard Commander, how may I be of assistance?" the Geth had a deep baritone voice that surprised him for a moment, but he continued on.

"What is that trench out there for? I don't remember it in the plans." Shepard pointed towards the area in question and the Geth followed his finger before answering.

"We intend to build a water filtration system, that will allow for sea water to be converted cleanly and safely into drinking water for both Levo and Dextro based life forms." His eyes widened briefly in shock, but quickly narrowed again in disbelief.

"Wait a minute, Levo amino water cant be refined out of Dextro, that's impossible… right?" The platform shook his head in a quick motion before explaining.

"We intend to grow Levo amino based plants in a sterile environment, allowing us to duplicate the minerals for Levo amino based life forms, and then mix them into a seperate sterile vat that will flow directly into your homes." Shepard furrowed his brow as he thought about it, but eventually gave up.

"Well I'm no biologist, but your saying we'll have water that's drinkable to both of us available on tap, correct?" The Geth gave another short nod.

"Good enough for me. And thanks, I really appreciate all you guys are doing for us."

"You are welcome, Shepard Commander." With that, the Geth walked off towards the house and left him once more in awe of the flurry of activity before him.

He kept watching all that he could as he started moving along the perimeter of the construction site, making sure to keep out of the way. He noticed Zaeed and Aria's house were coming along at about the same pace as his and Tali's, with the bottom floors and supports already firmly in place. There were gaps here and there where the windows would eventually go, and glass sheets were already carefully and neatly piled to one side in preparation. The noise surrounding the area was fairly tame as far as construction sites went, there were no large burly men with hammers and saws, there weren't any groups laughing as they ate a lunch or late breakfast, and there was no shouting of instructions or scolding for messed up tasks. All in all, it was a quiet scene, disturbed only by the sounds of pieces being fit into place, as all the sawing and cutting were done where ever the resources had been found.

_The only way these houses could be built faster is if they had assembled it off sight and then dropped it here from orbit._

Shaking his head in amused fascination, he then looked down to his Omnitool to make a quick call. He tapped the right contact and waited for the answer, after a few seconds Tali picked up.

"Shepard? Everything ok?"

"Of course beautiful, I just finished inspecting the progress on our houses and I have to say, I'm fairly sure they'll be done before the Normandy even gets back."

"…Really? That's wonderful! How soon do you think they'll be done?" he smiled at her for a moment then looked up to flag down another nearby Geth, who had just set down a loop of wires and started to walk back towards the house when he saw Shepard waving for him to come over.

"Shepard commander?"

"My bond mate and I would like to know if you might happen to have an estimation on when the houses will be complete." Shepard turned his arm to allow Tali to see the Geth as well, who looked at her for a moment before flaring his head flaps once and answering.

"We estimate it will take another two full day cycles, ten hours and thirty one minutes before completion of our current task as specified by your blue prints." Shepard brought the Omnitool back towards him to look at Tali with a grin.

"Did that answer your question?" Her eyes narrowed for a second as she shook her head slightly at his sarcasm.

"See you soon John."

"See you soon love." He closed the connection and looked back up at the Geth in front of him who was waiting patiently.

"Thanks for that, we organics are fond of our countdowns after all." The Geth tilted his head a little in confusion.

"Organics like countdowns?"

"We sure do, but I think it would take too long time to explain it to you." Shepard cast his gaze around the site once more, then decided to ask his question anyway.

"I don't suppose I could help out in anyway, could I?" the Geth raised one flap like an eyebrow.

"We have all tasks slotted to a unit, all aspects of the construction are accounted for."

"I know that, but maybe I could help somewhere, maybe with the ditch to the ocean? Or placing shingles or something?" The Geth still looked confused, probably due to him asking to help when it had already told him he couldn't.

"Why do you wish to aid in the construction? It is already nearing completion for this stage and we have no need for additional assistance." Shepard nodded slowly and looked at the ground as he answered.

"I know. It's just that I feel bad letting you do all the work. Especially since I can't repay you nearly as much as this house will be worth." The Geth stared at him for a while, likely communicating with the others in his network. Then it did something he never thought he'd see from a Geth, it took a step closer to him and put one hand on his shoulder in what it likely thought was a comforting manner.

"I understand, Shepard Commander. And you should know the Geth feel the same way towards you. We owe you a debt we can never repay, and this is just one small way we hope to show our gratitude. Please, let us do this for you, as you've done more than enough for us." Shepard bowed his head in appreciation of the sentiment and placed his hand on the Geth's shoulder to mirror him.

"Thank you, I wont forget this." The Geth removed his hand from his shoulder and took a step back with a bow, then turned to return to his duties on the house. Shepard watched him go about his task for a time with a small smile, but eventually left for the shuttle to return to the campsite. Tali wasn't going to believe this.

* * *

Tali was lying down on a blanket just above the tide, letting the waves slide just far enough up the sand to touch her toes before they slid back into the frothing blue and green depths. All she felt of the water was a sudden coldness through the sole of her foot that the suit instantly reheated every time. for once though, the buffer that was her suit didn't bother her, as she laid there with her mask off smelling the ocean and tasting the mist. She didn't understand how Shepard never needed to squint at the sun here, as to her it was too bright to look at directly, but he always insisted the sun was dull.

_If this is dull, I'm not sure I want to see the Earth's sun. It was too smoky to see anything last time I was there._

As she recalled, she hadn't seen it from orbit either, as there hadn't been any windows on the shuttle they'd used to arrive on Earth during the Reaper invasion. She pulled her hood down a little but to shield her eyes, and dug deeper into the sand with her back to make it more comfortable. Silently thanking the ancestors for Zaeed and Aria deciding to take a walk along the beach instead of staying here. She couldn't understand those two at all. When they were together, they argued and fought constantly, but they immediately made up afterwards, as if they were arguing for arguing's sake. She'd been raised believing that a couple arguing were soon to no longer be a couple, but these two defied all her past experience regarding relationships.

_It must be the anger issues they both have, makes them incapable of **not** fighting, even for just a short time._

She sighed and shook her head, attempting to forget about her neighbor's habits and relax, instead thinking about her call from Shepard about their house.

It was almost done! She was practically giddy about having her own home, and now that it was so close to done the anticipation was murder. But she could hold on, what are a few more days when she'd already been waiting years? She felt the waves touch further on up her leg, a particularly forceful wave. Looking down at the ocean waves, she was reminded that she needed to start looking for more normal clothing soon. If she was to start adjusting to Rannoch, she would need to be out of her suit, and that meant she needed something to cover herself in public. She thought about using the dress she'd bought back on Noveria, but decided against it. It was far too special a thing to wear for just anything, besides, that was for Shepard's eyes alone. She blushed a little at the memory of him on that night when she'd shown the dress to him, but she was still amazed she could cause a reaction like that in him. Proud, might be the better word for how she felt about that.

She perked up a little as she heard the sound of an engine getting closer, and watched as the shuttle flew in over the cliffs to slowly settle on the beach behind the camp. It sent up a flurry of sand and debris that quickly died down once the engine came to a full stop and the doors popped open.

Shepard stepped out in his usual attire of an orange sleeve-less jacket and dark pants, his eyes searching around the camp for her. She waved a hand above her head to get his attention then settled back into her towel, watching the ocean again as she waited for him to approach. Soon enough he walked up next to her and unfolded a towel to lie down alongside her, staying quiet as he laid back and got comfortable, squirming around the get the sand beneath to cooperate. The silence lasted only for a minute or so before Shepard turned his head to look at her.

"So, you excited Tali? We'll have our house soon." His voice was quiet, just loud enough to be heard over the sound of the water crashing on the sand below.

"Of course I am. I-I just wish my father could've been here to see this." He reached out and grabbed her hand with a squeeze.

"I know Tali, I wish I could've met him." She had to giggle as she saw in her mind how that meeting would've gone.

"What? Did I say something funny?" She had to stifle her laughter to answer him.

"In a way. I'm pretty sure my dad would've tried to kill you, he was protective like that."

"Oh yeah, you mentioned something like that once, but you were drunk then." She blinked in confusion for a minute, but quickly remembered Horizon, and then the blur afterwards.

"Oh Keelah, what did I say?"

"You said, "I'm having a drink with my boyfriend, my Human boyfriend. My Father would've **hated **you."" He did an impression of her voice that made her giggle once more, but slapped him on the arm for making her sound drunk as well.

"Well, he **would** have hated you." She said lamely.

"Well that would've been fine with me Tali, as long as I got to have you." He brought a smile to her face, when she was suddenly reminded of how long she'd had her mask off.

"Bosh'tet!" she quickly looked around her, searching for her mask.

"Me? What did I do?"

"No not you John." She found it laying above and behind her head and snatched it up, expertly slapping it into place and engaging the clamps with a hiss.

"Are you ok?" the genuine concern on his face made her want to rip the mask off again and kiss him, but she'd have to settle for a nod instead.

"Yes I'm fine, I just forgot how long I've had it off. I'll probably get a fever and a head cold now. Damn it! Why won't I adapt already?" Shepard laughed and rolled closer, wrapping his arms around her in a warm embrace.

"Give it some time Tali, you'll be out of that suit before you know it. Have the reactions been passing faster?" she snuggled into his arms further, closing her eyes.

"Yes, but only just."

"At least that's something." she sat and fumed for a minute more before rolling to look up at him.

"How do you deal with the waiting? You're always so patient about these things." Her question got a chuckle out of him, along with a slight squeeze of affection.

"I think about the rewards, what I'll get for being so patient, and what I'll do with those rewards." She got a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't talking about past experiences, but rather what he would do with _her_.

"Oh? And what are you intending on doing with your rewards?" he pulled back enough to look down at her through her mask, his eyes penetrating to her core and his smile melting her soul as it always did.

"Now that would be telling."


	45. The Unveiling

The Unveiling

"Shepard? Really, what is this about?" She carefully felt her way forwards with her eyes closed, Shepard's hand on her back gently pushing her in the right direction and steering her clear of obstacles.

"Keep em' closed." She made a frustrated sound at his playful tone, but she didn't really feel it.

_This is it; my impossible dream is finally coming true. _

She knew full well he was showing her the house, as she'd taken the liberty of setting a timer on her Omnitool from two days ago when the Geth told them both exactly when it would be finished. She'd been eagerly glancing at it every hour or so since then, fooling herself into thinking time might've gone by faster that particular time. She smiled in her helmet at her own eagerness over the past two days, at all the hours she'd sat on the beach just imagining how it would look even though she'd helped EDI with the blueprints. But daydreaming about it and seeing it for real were two completely different things, and she was done dreaming.

"Not much farther now, watch your step."

He steered her by her shoulder now, and she practically wanted to explode with anticipation, she had the shakes and her eyelids wanted to fly open, but she did as he said and kept them closed through sheer willpower and gritted teeth. She did her best to distract her racing mind, thinking instead about the first thing that came to mind, Aria and Zaeed. The two had cooled down a little bit since the first day they had made camp, but they still fought and made up every couple of hours. The best one she could remember was when she and Shepard had been sitting at their makeshift camping table eating breakfast, when Zaeed emerged from the tent the two shared wrapped only in blankets and yelling about her hogging all the blankets and that he was sick of it. There was a brief response from Aria inside the tent, and in a flash of blue Zaeed was enveloped in the blue swirl of biotics, which dragged him back along the ground and into the tent, roaring as he went.

Tali stifled a giggle at the memory, but her mind quickly returned to the moment at hand when she felt Shepard change their course and slow down. Without warning he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her backwards, making a squeal escape her lips before she plopped into the familiar feeling of his lap.

"You can open your eyes now Tali." Her eyes flew open so fast that she couldn't see anything at first, and had to blink away the fuzziness that had gathered in the corners of her vision before she got her first glimpse. She inhaled sharply, but she didn't even notice as her eyes moved along the lines of the walls, the pristine windows and the majestic view one no doubt got from inside. The second story especially caught her attention, as from her vantage point on the ground in Shepard's lap she saw green plants in pots alongside chairs that lined a table at the center of the balcony. They were standing to the side of the house along the cliff edge, to allow a view of both sides of the house. She was so caught up in drinking it all in that Shepard had to repeat himself a few times before she heard him.

"So what do you think?" she couldn't have torn her eyes away from the sight in front of her even if a Reaper landed right behind it, but she realized she'd been holding her breath and exhaled heavily before answering him.

"It's perfect! Can we go inside?" she was already out of his lap and pulling on his arm before he got an amused "yes" out and was pulled into the house.

The first thing she noticed as she entered was the window directly across from them. It lined a large portion of the wall on the ocean side of the house to allow a spectacular view of the sea, and make lighting during the day not an issue. The area around the window was the dining area, with a large wooden table and enough cushioned chairs to be host to a small army. Her gaze was drawn to the right next, to the light green marble counter tops and white tiled floors of the kitchen. The cabinets overhead were the same color wood as the dining room table, a dark swirling brown, and the cooking apparatus, like the stove, gave off a faint factory fresh kind of gleam.

As she continued turning to the right she scanned along the wall behind them, seeing all the empty space for pictures and couches and chairs. It only had a few windows along it, and they were definitely smaller than the ones near the dining area. But area showed promise for as a sitting room, as it was open enough to accommodate many guests. Turning past the broad front doors and continuing her rightward motion, she saw the left side of the bottom floor. It was much smaller that the other portions, and was the sole bathroom for the first floor. About fifteen feet further up along the left-side wall was something she hadn't seen in a very long time, and then only in books or holovids, but it caught Shepard's attention immediately.

"Tali, do you know what this is? The Geth actually installed an old Earth style brick fireplace! Was this even in the blueprint?" he walked over to it with wide-eyed fascination and ran a finger along it in apparent disbelief. She, however, continued to look around in amazement and smile, finally noticing the ornate stairway tucked behind the wall of the kitchen and that led down into the dining room area. Walking past the kitchen and grabbing the sturdy wood of the railing, she slowly climbed the stairs to the second story, making Shepard stop his gawking and follow her up lest he get left behind.

As she arrived at the top, she saw that the floor layout was in the shape of a sideways H, with the main hallway immediately in front of her leading towards the master and guest bedrooms at the far end of the hall. The immediate left would bring her to the balcony, and the right to yet another guest room, which she knew was connected to the other guest room via a small door. Each bedroom had it's own bathroom, but only the master bedroom had a door to the ocean side balcony.

She walked to the balcony door on the left and swung it open, revealing a truly beautiful and majestic sight. The ocean sparkled brightly in the late afternoon sun, and the sky was a vivid spattering of pink and red as the sun touched the horizon on its way downward. The cliffs nearby were lit up in an orange hue as they jutted defiantly over the ocean waves, but all Tali could think of was her sudden need to sit down before her legs gave out and did it for her. She slid one of the wooden chairs out from the rounded table and collapsed into it, noticing with half a mind that the umbrella hanging above the table was partially blocking her view, but ignored it. Soon after Shepard pulled up a chair next to her and followed her example by plopping down heavily with a sigh. They didn't speak for a time, and instead simply watched the sun's slow progress downward. She leaned her head onto his shoulder and looked out on the ocean for what felt like hours before the silence was broken.

"I don't know about you, but I think the Geth have outdone themselves this time," She simply nodded her head as she felt too tired to work up the strength to answer him.

"You ready to check out the bedroom?" She groaned a little and closed her eyes; her earlier adrenaline and eagerness throughout the day had drained more out of her than she'd thought. She felt Shepard hold her head up and move out from under her, then lift her up out of her chair. He carried her along the balcony until they reached the door to the master bedroom, where he stopped in the doorway and whistled. She found the strength to open her eyes to see why, but had to blink away the fuzziness again to make sense of what she saw.

A thin purplish veil surrounded the bed, and the wallpaper was the same lavender color, apparently to match her clan colors. The floor was carpeted and looked incredibly soft, with a light brown color to it. but she quickly lost what remained of her will to stay awake, and her eyelids felt worse than lead weights, so she let him carry her and gently set her down on the incredibly comfortable bed. She snuggled deep into the fluffy pillow he provided her and quickly lost herself in dreams, dreams of finally being where she belonged.


	46. Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Shepard lounged contently on his balcony, letting the drone of conversation wash over him for a moment as he stared off into the ocean with a smile. It had been a few months since the Geth had so amazingly finished up the two houses, and the Normandy had finally come back from it's journeys. To say he'd been a bit surprised when the Normandy settled down a few hundred yards away from his house, with absolutely no prior warning from either Quarian traffickers or the crew themselves, was a massive understatement. He had had to laugh afterwards though, recognizing Joker and Garrus' hand in the manuever immediately.

The crew each had their own reasons for having gone, and so were quite eager to share their stories on current galactic events and personal drama once they'd settled down and been greeted into his home. Most enthusiastic of which was Aristotle, who had been almost bubbly with enthusiasm for what he'd seen on Earth. Going into great detail about famous buildings and the people who lived in them every time he was asked, which turned out to be quite a lot as people continued to find his exuberance amusing.

Shepard blinked and looked back up to the group sitting around him as he heard his name.

"…Yea, my dad was certainly happy to see me, but being a proper Turian and all he couldn't really show it. My sister on the other hand… If she hadn't broke a leg, she would've tackled me. Dad did tell me to give his best to Shepard though, which I suppose shouldn't surprise me." Garrus was addressing the entire table, who all seemed more than happy to hear him out, so Shepard decided to let him finish his story and sip at his beer as he let his thoughts wander yet again.

The women had elected to stay inside and were still downstairs in the sitting area, while the men had gravitated towards the balcony. They had all drawn up chairs in a semi circle facing the ocean with the exception of Al, who had been dragged into the kitchen by a swarm of women eager to chat him up. Zaeed threw in a few side comments from Shepard's left every now and again, while Garrus sat on the right with Joker and Ken Donnelly. Most of the other alliance crew had only stopped in to chat for a short time, likely feeling as if they were intruding on a reunion between old friends, even against his insistence to the contrary. But there was little he could say to dissuade them, so he simply thanked them all and shook their hands before they left. Ken and Gabby had stayed though, mostly due to Tali's pleading, which he knew better than anyone was damn hard to resist. Ken hadn't said much when asked about his recent activities, but had simply scooted his chair indiscreetly further from Joker and said, "Oh you know, fiddlen' with this, tinkerin' with that." to which Joker had laughed profusely.

Garrus had been telling of how he found his father and sister on one of the evacuation sites from Palaven using the recently reconstructed Trebia relay, with help from Miranda's surviving contacts and Liara's network. Joker's family was still missing from Tiptree, but by all reports it had been wholly devastated. The pilot showed considerable restraint when he spoke of it, showing almost no emotion; which in itself was a dead giveaway on how he really felt considering his usual sarcastic but happy demeanor.

Zaeed was only here because Aria had dragged him away from his favorite chair on their porch where he now spent most of his hours, but he had lost his crabby disposition once Shepard had tossed him a brew from the fridge. He was working his way through the third or so now, cracking it open with a crisp popping sound that never failed to satisfy. Shepard watched as he tipped the can back for a taste and brought it back down, revealing a smile.

"It's a good thing you're such an alcoholic Garrus." Shepard's sudden interruption in his story telling made his plates shift around in the equivalent of a frown.

"Me? You're one to talk."

"Well if not for your addiction we wouldn't be able to enjoy this moment properly." He lifted a half empty beer to indicate what "properly" meant, getting a smirk from the Turian, who lifted his poison of choice in a sort of salute right back at him. the rest of the men at the table did the same thing, sitting forward and raising their cups and cans to clink in the middle with a toast.

"To the only Turian I know who isn't a guddam stick in the mud!" Zaeed's toast was quickly supported from all there.

"Here here!"

"To Garrus!" Garrus looked around with a grin, obviously finding the situation ridiculous.

"Damn Shepard, you cant even get praise in your own home when I'm here." He opened his mouth for a retort when the glass door opened behind them and Miranda's head poked out.

"We have some food almost ready if anyone's interested." Miranda quickly ducked back inside, leaving the men to look at each other in confusion.

_I didn't even know they were cooking. Is it really time for dinner already?_

Shepard covered his eyes with one arm as he looked to the sun. He had gotten much better at gauging the time on Rannoch, but he still found it difficult and a little pathetic to need sleep twice in one day, making him feel like an old man who needed constant naps. Still, Tali was always there to tell him he wasn't old, and that it wasn't his fault his species had "bizarre" sleeping cycles.

He brought his hand back down and stood up from his chair, apparently giving off some kind of cue to the others as they quickly followed suit. He slid the glass door open and was instantly struck with a mouth watering aroma he couldn't quite put his finger on. But decided to find out quickly as he hadn't realized he was this hungry. He started his trek down the stairs to the sound of laughter and giggles with the others close behind him. From the top of the stairs he saw the dining area was occupied by Kasumi and Aria, who surprisingly had their heads together and were talking softly about something. Shepard looked back at Zaeed who shook his head and grunted. Most of the noise was coming from the kitchen area though, so leaving Zaeed to his fate, he made for the kitchen and it's wonderful smells. Everyone else decided to take up a seat on the couches in the living room by the fireplace to continue their chat.

The kitchen was a flurry of activity, with EDI, Miranda, and Aristotle all stirring this or tasting that, while Tali leaned on the counter from the other side looking slightly bored. He walked up beside her and took a seat on the bar stool next to her, mimicking her pose of elbows on the counter and chin in her hands, watching the kitchen operate effectively under Miranda's watchful gaze. Aristotle was chopping up some kind of vegetable he'd never seen before with amazing speed, while EDI scooped up the pieces and threw them into a salad bowl. Miranda was in her element, in charge of something once again. She occasionally took quick peeps at whatever was in the oven, which made the smell intensify every time she did. His stomach rumbled loudly enough that Tali heard him over the clamor and nudged him with her shoulder. He just patted his stomach and shrugged, making her roll her eyes.

"You know, I suppose I should probably learn how to cook something besides hotdogs and hamburgers, that way we don't have to rely on our guests to cook everything." She laughed but nodded vigorously before she answered.

"That sounds like a great idea, but then, whatever would we do with all the field rations and microwave meals we have all stored up?" the sarcasm was plain in her voice, so he decided to roll with it.

"We might want to have those for back ups when my cooking attempts fail." She laughed once more and leaned into his shoulder to whisper, "Which they will."

Tali had just gotten comfortable on his arm when Miranda flung out a hand and pointed at the two of them.

"You two just going to watch? I'm not going to do _everything_ for you. Why don't you make the table for everyone? Chop chop!" He jumped off the stool and was halfway to the silverware when he realized she had just managed to spook him like an old drill instructor on his rounds. He laughed but continued to do as he had been told with Tali right beside him being suspiciously quiet. He quickly reached to her audio adjuster and switched it back on, only to be assaulted by the sudden sound of her giggling whole heartedly. Her shoulders began to shake and she had to take a minute to calm herself before she attempted to explain herself.

"She got you to leap about three feet off that stool! HA! Keelah, I haven't seen you move that fast since Legion tried to touch one of your toy ships in your cabin!"

"Those aren't "toy ships" they're models. And I suppose she did startle me a bit." Tali just continued to laugh as she began to grab up silverware and plates to take to the dining room table. Following her lead and grabbing what remained, they shooed everyone away from the table, earning a grumble from Zaeed who cracked his back as he stood up with a, "One of the stupidest damn conversations I ever heard anyway." and made for the living room area along with Aria and Kasumi, who were much more dignified about their departure.

They set the plates and eating utensils down for everyone, by his count nine, not including EDI and Al as they couldn't eat, and returned to the kitchen together. He snapped a crisp salute when they got back to Miranda.

"Table set ma'm!" Miranda raised an eyebrow and smiled, while Tali looked at him with what he read as a grin behind her mask.

"Just go sit down Shepard."

"Yes ma'm!" He grinned at her as she turned back to the kitchen, then hooked Tali's arm through his as he always did, before he set out to find a spot in the living room.

It wasn't too hard to find a spot on one of the couches, since they were large enough to accommodate many guests, as opposed to the handful that were present. The two couches were shaped in the form of an "L" individually, and faced the brick fireplace. There was a place on the wall next to it that he'd been thinking would make an excellent spot for the TV when they got satelites back up and running on Rannoch, but until then they had to make do with the simple pleasures in life. As he sat down he drew Tali down with him and into his lap, holding her tightly against him while she adjusted to be more comfortable. He had to focus to avoid getting aroused by her weight shifting on top of him, and only barely prevailed.

"You look awful comfy over their cutie." Kasumi's voice was playful as usual, and to his delight and dismay, made Tali squirm in his lap again.

"I gotta say Kasumi, it really is comfy over here."

"Yea, until his leg falls asleep ten minutes from now- ahh!" Zaeed's comment got him a swift slap over his head by a blue blur of biotics from Aria, who sat smugly as if nothing had happened and ignoring Zaeed's stink eye.

"So, what's next for the great commander Shepard? Aside from ducking the press that is." Garrus embellished the title with a fake salute, earning a few snickers and giggles around the room, but it got quiet quickly when he didn't laugh as well.

"I was going to tell you all over dinner, but I guess now is as good a time as any." He paused and looked up at Tali, watching her luminous eyes roam over his face for a moment before returning his gaze to the group.

"I intend to retire. I have been awarded the Medal of Honor, and my pension is more than enough to keep us afloat here on Rannoch. Needless to say, the Normandy will be returning to the Alliance, so anyone who wants to switch out before the transfer will need to speak with Admiral Hackett. We all have a lot of memories on that ship, and I hate to see her go, but the Alliance will need her more than I will, so I'm giving her up."

His proclamation was met with silence, and more than a few of his friends looked down at their drinks as he finished, but it was something that had to be done.

_Damn am I tired of doing, "what needs to be done" all the time. I won't be missing **that** particular aspect of my job._

Garrus was the first to come out of the stupor he'd apparently induced on his friends.

"So how will you get around? Or do you just intend to pull favors?"

"What makes you think I intend to go anywhere? But even if I do end up going somewhere, I can pay my way on a transport ship."

The room threatened silence once more, so he decided to change that.

"Come on guys, you act like somebody died! I'm just retiring, and as far as I know I'm still a spectre, so I can still do what I want when I want, including helping my friends if they need it." the group looked around at each other, apparently still unconvinced until Zaeed stood up rather unsteadily with his tenth or so beer in his hand.

"Come on you pussies! Knock off this moping crap and enjoy yourselves for once! Life's too guddam short for this shit."

He was about to suggest that Zaeed go lay down, and was thus completely shocked when Tali grabbed her wine glass off the coffee table and stood up from his lap.

"For once, Zaeed's right. This may be the last time for a long time we will see each other, and I refuse to let it be a sad memory." She plucked a straw from one of her many pockets and stabbed it down into her drink, then connected it to her helmet's filtration system. The liquid didn't start draining from the glass, but no one noticed as they too stood up and threw back their drinks. Zaeed did so with far too much exuberance, and would've tipped over backwards if Aria hadn't stabilized him, but he didn't even look around as he continued to empty his drink.

Tali slowly sat back in his lap, her drink still in hand as he whispered to her.

"Good show gorgeous, I must be losing my powers of speech." He watched his friends spirits continue to climb as they started chatting and laughing again, and he couldn't help but grin as she nervously shifted once more in his lap.

"Well, I just saw they were upset so I- I mean, I suppose I should've let you handle it since your so much better at things like that and-"

"Tali, relax, you did great." She stopped fidgeting and looked at him for a moment, then sank her face into his chest, laughing. He quickly found himself doing the same, cradling her head in his arms and laughing seemingly at nothing. He was saved from having to answer the questioning looks by Miranda striding in and flanked by both EDI and Aristotle.

"Ok everybody, foods all ready!"

There was a sudden rush of people attempting to leave the living room area, and he smiled as he was reminded how competitive his friends were. Garrus bumped Kasumi with his hips as they passed the corner of the couch, forcing her backwards into it as Aria brushed past. She was moving past Garrus and was apparently of the opinion that no one would dare attack her, when Garrus stuck his foot out between her legs, almost making her trip if it weren't for her biotics again. She turned to face him very slowly and menacingly, making him smile sheepishly and put his hands up, which left him wide open for Kasumi to grab him by the collar of his armor from behind and wrangle him backwards and into the same position he'd pushed her into. Zaeed, though, had collapsed onto the couch with his head back against the headrest and was snoring loudly.

They eventually all got their plates of food and shuffled to the dining room table. Shepard took a seat around the middle of the long rectangular table with Tali next to him. their food was some interesting smelling variation of chicken, while Tali's and Garrus' meal looked like a haphazard pile of meat and bones with a few seasonings around it. the salad bowls were placed proportionately along the table for everyone to reach, and it had been so long since he'd had mashed potatoes that he cringed when Miranda stood up from her seat further along the table, the light from outside casting an orange light on her as she clinked her spoon to her glass for everyone's attention.

"Everybody, I'd like your attention please! Before we eat, I'd like to acknowledge our hosts, Tali, and Shepard, to whom we owe everything. I just wanted to say, that it has been the greatest honor of my life to know you both, and I wish all the happiness the universe has to offer on you both." Garrus stood up immediately after she stopped talking and raised his glass above his head while he looked straight at him and Tali.

"To the saviors of the galaxy, and the best damn friends a guy could ask for."

As one the group stood up with drinks in hand and shouted at the top of their lungs.

"_**Here here**_!" as they group sat down and began to eat, Shepard looked at his friends and found he regretted nothing. Life was as it should be, so he whispered to himself as he raised his own glass to his lips and looked straight at Tali with his most winning smile.

"Here here."

* * *

Well, thats it everybody! this is the last chapter for Wings Of Fire. I hope you all enjoyed the ride as much as i did, and that this brings some closure to Biowares crap endings for you. also, it always helps to know what people think, so dont hesitate to leave reviews even though the story is over!

Yours in service,

Bahoogasmif.


	47. Addendum

Addendum

Hey everybody. I come to you today to give some sad news. It seems life has once again been scheming, and that the collaboration I spoke about will not be coming to pass. It pains me to say so, but I don't see anything else to add to Wings Of Fire, as it sums up my hopes and dreams for Tali and Shepard.

But I don't intend to stop writing, as I see so many wonderful stories about our favorite characters that inspire me to keep caring about them. I would still dearly love to participate in a collaboration regarding ME, so if anyone likes my writing style or just wants some help, I'd be more than happy to oblige and would welcome PM's.

I once again extend my apologies regarding the collaboration, and hope you all forgive me, and if you haven't seen my one-shot for the year after WOF, please give it a shot. It has much fluff and if you liked WOF you might well like it as well.

Yours in service,

Bahoogasmif


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